Article

The cerebellum receives signals from, and sends signals to, the parietal cortex
and instances of cerebellocerebral diaschisis indicate that some behaviours are
controlled through this circuitry. Not all aspects of action control associated
with the parietal cortex have been reported in patients with cerebellar damage
though. Presented here is a case study of a cerebellar patient whose action
deficits appear to be associated with both cerebellar and parietal functions. AM
was 27 years old and eight years previously he had an operation to remove a
cystic cerebellar tumour. He was tested on his ability to carry out motor
imagery, make instructed and spontaneous actions, and intrinsic and extrinsic
movements. Similar to ideomotor apraxia patients AM showed an automatic-voluntary
dissociation where his motor control was better on spontaneous actions than
instructed ones. He also had poor motor imagery timing. However, unlike apraxia
patients he was equally poor at controlling body-related and object-related
actions and his performance improved without vision. The presence of problems
more commonly associated with parietal cortex functions suggest that the
cerebellum is involved in a broader spectrum of action abilities than previously
thought.
CI - Crown Copyright A(c) 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS