Essential tremor (ET) is among the most common movement disorders, yet pharmacologic options remain limited. Recent mechanistic insights implicate abnormal cerebello-thalamo-cortical oscillations arising from impaired GABAergic inhibition, T-type calcium channel-driven rhythmicity, and SK/AMPA receptor-mediated hyperexcitability. Translational studies have explored neuroactive steroids targeting extrasynaptic GABAA receptors, T-type calcium channel blockers, SK-channel enhancers, and AMPA antagonists, with variable clinical efficacy. These findings highlight the biological heterogeneity of ET and the challenge of aligning molecular targets with meaningful clinical outcomes. Future progress will require precision-based pharmacotherapy, integrating circuit-specific biomarkers, mechanistic patient stratification, and real-world measures of tremor impact to transform the landscape of ET treatment.
Lieu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.