Cognitive and emotional sequelae of cerebellar infarct: A case report

The cerebellum has long been the subject of scientific investigation, but i ts role in nonmotor functions has only recently begun to receive serious co nsideration. Despite the growing literature linking the cerebellum to nonmo tor/cognitive functions in humans, some controversy remains concerning the cerebellum's role in these processes. We present a patient who developed bo th specific language processing and verbal memory deficits and emotional ch anges in the context of normal intelligence following a bilateral cerebella r ischemic stroke. Despite having multiple localized cerebellar lesions, th is patient had no significant motor problems, nov was there radiological ev idence of focal forebrain lesions to which the cognitive and emotional effe cts might be attributed. The role of the cerebellum in cognition and the re levance of cerebellum-associated cognitive/emotional dysfunction to the pra cticing clinician are discussed. (C) 1999 National Academy of Neuropsycholo gy Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.