A woman aged fifty-three developed paraparesis at the age of 4, which progressed slowly and required crutches by the age of 30. At the age of 51, muscle stiffness involved bilateral hands and arms gradually. At the age of 53, she suffered from painful spasms in right deltoid muscle. Her two brothers had spastic paraplegia without other neurological deficits. Her paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother were cousins. Slight dementia was noted (WAIS: IQ, 79). Her posture was stiff and muscles of upper limbs were in a persistent contraction; Subcutaneous tissue was thin, and muscles were well-defined and firm. There was moderate muscle weakness of legs and hands. Continuous fasciculations and myokymias were recognized in muscles of the arms and the limb girdles. Muscle tone was considerably increased especially in the bilateral arms. The deep tendon reflexes were exaggerated with extensor plantar responses. Profuse sweating affected palms, soles and backs. No sensory disturbance was appreciated. There was no myotonic responses to percussion of muscles. Following laboratory data were normal; thyroid functions, CSF studies, anti HTLV-I antibody and long chain fatty acid in red blood cells, myelography and brain CT except for increased basal metabolic rate (53%). Electromyographic study in the arms and hands revealed spontaneous motor unit activities including doublets at rest and increased proportion of polyphasic potentials and high amplitude potentials in voluntary contraction. Biopsy of right quadriceps femoris muscle showed hypertrophy of type I fibers and angulated atrophy of type II fibers. Continuous muscle activities in upper limbs did not change at sleep or with intravenous administration of 7 mg diazepam.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)