Cognition in cerebellar degeneration: correlations with lateral neocerebellar dysfunction and atrophy

Funded Activity Summary

Diseases of the main brain coordination centre (the cerebellum) were once thought to impair only movement skills. However, effects on thinking, and especially on mental flexibility and rational planning, are increasingly being reported. These cognitive difficulties may hinder rehabilitation. They also often cause tension within the sufferers' families if other family members are not aware that such difficulties are part of the disease and beyond the sufferers' control. We will test how common such thinking difficulties are in patients with different inherited forms of incoordination, and determine what aspects of thinking are particularly affected. We will see whether the severity of movement incoordination predicts the extent of thinking disruption, as different but neighbouring parts of the cerebellum seem to be involved in each. We will also use magnetic brain scans (MRI's) to check that the thinking problems are not caused by shrinkage of other parts of the brain in these diseases.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2003

End Date: 01-01-2005

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $205,500.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Neurology And Neuromuscular Diseases

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

cerebellar degeneration | cerebellar disorders | cognitive impairment | neurogenetics | psychometric testing | volumetric magnetic resonance imaging

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