Deep Dive: Mapping the Neuropathology of Essential Tremor and Exploring the Molecular Underpinnings of Neurodegeneration

Essential tremor (ET) is a chronic and progressive neurological disease affecting 7 million individuals in the US, making it the most common tremor disorder, yet its underlying patho-mechanisms remain enigmatic. The study of human tissue is currently the most direct method to gain a mechanistic insight into the pathogenesis of ET, and in 2003, we established the Essential Tremor Centralized Brain Repository, harvesting 217 ET brains to date, by far the largest collection of ET brains in the world. Through detailed, systematic, controlled postmortem studies, we have made initial steps in identifying postmortem changes in the ET brain, yet in fundamental ways, our studies have only grazed the surface; we have yet to fully map the degenerative pattern seen in the ET brain and have made only initial attempts to dig deeper to begin to uncover the molecular events that are responsible for this disease.