The presence of pyramidal and extrapyramidal symptoms and ophthalmoplegia makes the diagnosis of ADCA I, the presence of retinopathy points to ADCA II, and the absence of associated signs to ADCA III. Genetic linkage and molecular analyses revealed that ADCAs are genetically heterogeneous even within the various subtypes.

Ataxia 10 is a protein that may function in neuron survival, neuron differentiation, and neuritogenesis. These roles may be carried out via activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade. Expansion of a pentanucleotide repeat in an intronic region of this locus has been associated with spinocerebellar ataxia, type 10. Alternatively spliced transcript variants have been described.