Myoclonic Jerks

Myoclonic jerks are sudden, small, muscle spasms, jerks and twitches that occur involuntarily. These spasms, called myoclonus, are the brief contractions or relaxations, of muscle tissue. These happen most commonly while a person is going to sleep although they occur as part of the symptomology of many neurological conditions; multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, dystonia, Alzheimer's disease, Gaucher's disease, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD), serotonin toxicity, occasionally in Huntington's disease, and some types of epilepsy. Hiccups are also a form of myoclonus that specifically attacks the diaphragm.