Spinocerebellar Ataxias and Ataxins

Abstract
Neurology textbooks are replete with descriptions of clinical syndromes of ataxia due to various forms of spinocerebellar degeneration. The most common autosomal recessive type, Friedreich's ataxia, was described in 1876, and the most prevalent dominant ataxic syndrome, olivopontocerebellar atrophy, in 1882. Since then, neurologists have written extensively about various classifications of ataxia and related problems and the uniqueness of newly evaluated families with inherited spinal and cerebellar disease. Classifications based on clinical phenotype abound, but bringing order and clarity to the biochemical and genetic bases for them has proved difficult. A major reason has been the lack of information on . . .