Pediatric Movement Disorders - Tremor

Mechanism

There are probably many mechanisms that may cause tremor. In some cases, there is alternating muscle activity in the flexors and extensors about a joint. This suggests the presence of an oscillatory signal in the nervous system. In other cases, there is rhythmic contraction or relaxation of a single muscle or group of muscles. Tremor may be generated in...

• Muscles, when they are strongly contracted
• The spinal cord
• The brainstem
• The basal ganglia, as in Parkinson's disease
• The cortex