Damage to the cerebellum can cause what physical and cognitive symptoms?

Answer 1

The cerebellum plays an important role in motor output and sensory perception. It integrates pathways in the brain that send information to muscles and provides feedback of the position of the body in space. The cerebellum plays a role in muscle tension important for maintaining posture and fine finger movement such as typing. The cerebellum also plays a role in cognitive function including attention, processing of language and music and other temporal sensory stimuli. It also regulates fear and pleasure responses.

Damage to the cerebellum can result in dizziness, vertigo, ataxia which is an inability to coordinate voluntary muscle movements, unsteady movements and staggering gait. This can interfere with a person's ability to walk, talk, eat, and to perform other self care tasks. Other symptoms of a damaged cerebellum include poor motor control, the overestimation or underestimation of force, the inability to engage in rapidly alternating movements, loss of balance and loss of muscle memory. Damage to the cerebellum seems to affect procedural learning such as touch typing. Damage can also result in a continuous muscle tension and muscles that are resistant to stretching, a very painful condition.

The cerebellum can be damaged by certain toxins (many anticonvulsant medications are cerebellar toxins), antibodies produced by tumors in other parts of the body, strokes, multiple sclerosis, tumors, cerebellar degeneration, underdevelopment or displacement such as that caused by Arnold-Chiari malformation whereby the cerebellum extends into the spinal cavity at the brainstem in varying degrees of severity. Arnold-Chiari malformation can cause severe headaches.