SCA36 accounted for 1.9% of ataxia cases in the French population and 6.3% in the Galician region of Spain.4,6 In East Asia, SCA36 accounted for between 0.6 and 1.6% of SCA.8,11 Genetic screening of SCA36 in patients with ataxia in other parts of Europe, including the UK, Greece, Germany and Portugal, failed to identify patients carrying the NOP56 expansion.16–18. The gene discussed is NOP56; the disease is cerebellar ataxia.