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Trait

Twitching

Clinical name: Muscle fibrillation

Fine, rapid twitching of individual muscle fibers with little or no movement of the muscle as a whole as ascertained by electromyography (EMG). If a motor neuron or its axon is destroyed, the muscle fibers it innervates undergo denervation atrophy. This leads to hypersensitivity of individual muscle fibers to acetyl choline so that they may contract spontaneously. Isolated activity of individual muscle fibers is generally so fine it cannot be seen through the intact skin, although it can be recorded as a short-duration spike in the EMG.

HPO HP:0010546

Summary

Also called
EMG: fibrillations on electromyogram
Body system
Abnormality of the nervous system

20 genes linked to Twitching

Changes in these genes cause rare conditions in which Twitching is seen. Most people with this trait have none of those conditions, and a gene on this list says nothing about anyone's own genome.

GeneHow often it is seenConditions
DNM1Ldynamin 1LAlwaysIn 1 condition
DNM2dynamin 2AlwaysIn 2 conditions
GARS1glycyl-tRNA synthetase 1AlwaysIn 1 condition
MTMR14myotubularin related protein 14AlwaysIn 2 conditions
SBF1SET binding factor 1AlwaysIn 1 condition
TCP1t-complex 1AlwaysIn 1 condition
BIN1bridging integrator 1Often (30–79%)In 1 condition
CFL2cofilin 2Often (30–79%)In 1 condition
GYG1glycogenin 1Often (30–79%)In 1 condition
IFRD1interferon related developmental regulator 1Often (30–79%)In 1 condition
MYF6myogenic factor 6Often (30–79%)In 1 condition
RYR1ryanodine receptor 1Often (30–79%)In 1 condition
TFGtrafficking from ER to golgi regulatorOften (30–79%)In 1 condition
POLGDNA polymerase gamma, catalytic subunitSometimes (5–29%)In 1 condition
TBC1D24TBC1 domain family member 24Sometimes (5–29%)In 1 condition
TWNKtwinkle mtDNA helicaseSometimes (5–29%)In 1 condition
CCNFcyclin FNot recordedIn 1 condition
DYSFdysferlinNot recordedIn 1 condition
SETXsenataxinNot recordedIn 1 condition
TRAK1trafficking kinesin protein 1Not recordedIn 1 condition

How often is among people with one of the gene's conditions, the most often across them, as the Human Phenotype Ontology records it. These pages describe traits and the research behind them; they are not a diagnosis, and a doctor or genetic counsellor is the person to ask about symptoms.

Narrower traits

Broader traits

Abnormality of movement

Where this comes from

  • The Human Phenotype Ontology, release 2026-09-01: the trait, its names, its definition and the genes linked to it. Find out more at hpo.jax.org.
  • Data release 2026.10.16-c6eea6bf.

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