Grant: Project Grant

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 (SCA6) is a devastating genetic disease that leads to progressive motor impairment (called ataxia) and cerebellar degeneration. SCA6 currently has no known treatment. Using a mouse model of SCA6, we found that exercise could improve ataxia and have identified some of the cellular changes in the cerebellum that we believe underlie the effects of exercise, since rescuing these cellular changes led to reduced ataxia. Here, we aim to unravel the mechanisms that underlie the improvements in ataxia by exercise or a drug that mimics it in SCA6 mice in the hope that this may lead to new, more specific treatment avenues in the future. This work will result in important findings that could contribute to new treatments for a currently untreatable disease.