25. Spinocerebellar disorders

Spinocerebellar disorders are often neurodegenerative diseases. They constitute a large group of rare disorders characterized by various manifestations of ataxia, in some cases with selective dysfunction of other systems (e.g. the corticospinal tract). Damage to the corticospinal tract is the key symptom of other neurodegenerative disorders, namely hereditary spastic paraplegia and primary lateral sclerosis. The ability to diagnose these various disorders has improved enormously thanks to the rapid developments in DNA testing. The treatment is currently still purely symptomatic.