DETECTION OF SILENT CEREBELLAR LESIONS BY INCREASING THE INERTIAL LOAD OF THE MOVING HAND

In a previous study, we analyzed the hypermetria of wrist flexion move ments in patients with a cerebellar syndrome. We found that hypermetri a augmented when the inertial load of the moving hand was artificially increased. In the present study, we applied the same protocol to pati ents with an apparently normal neurological examination, in spite of a cerebellar lesion documented by magnetic resonance imaging. In all of these patients, the addition of a mass to the moving hand caused the appearance of a hypermetria. This lack of adaptation of fast and accur ate movements to an increased inertia thus appears as a new diagnostic tool enabling the detection of silent cerebellar lesions.