Patients with Chronic Focal Cerebellar Lesions Show No Cognitive Abnormalities in a Bedside Test

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to show whether cognitive deficits are present in chronic cerebellar patients using a self-developed, validated bedside screening test. Twenty-one adults with a history of infarction within the territory of the posterior-inferior (PICA) or the superior cerebellar artery (SCA), and 25 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls participated. Lesion localization was based on individual 3D MRI scans. The test took 10–12 min including subtests of naming, executive functions, attention, figural and verbal memory, reading, long-term memory, mental arithmetic, higher order motor control, and spatial functions. Though individual patients tended to make more errors than controls, neither total error score nor subscores revealed significant group differences. No obvious cognitive deficits appeared to be present in chronic cerebellar patients as assessed by a bedside screening test.

Keywords:

• Cerebellum
• cognition
• stroke
• SCA
• PICA
• bedside-test

We would like to thank the participating patients and controls for their time and effort. The study was supported by a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG Ti 239/5–2).