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Query: UMLS:C0153640 (Cerebellum)
 1,777 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cerebellar subjects and unskilled throwers cannot produce fast arm movements when throwing. We investigated the arm movement kinematics associated with this lack of skill. Cerebellar subjects and matched controls, and skilled throwers throwing with their skilled (dominant) and unskilled (nondominant) arms, were instructed to make slow, medium, and fast 3-D overarm throws from a sitting position. Only the fast throws were analyzed in detail. Joint motions were computed from angular positions of arm segments recorded with search coils. When throwing, both the cerebellar group and the unskilled-arm group had slower arm movements, and slower elbow extension and wrist flexion velocities than their reference groups. They also had similar magnitudes of many kinematic parameters, e.g., both cerebellar and unskilled groups had similar elbow extension and wrist flexion velocities. Compared to their reference groups, both the cerebellar and unskilled-arm groups also had a smaller elbow extension acceleration, a smaller shoulder adduction deceleration, and the absence of a large elbow extension deceleration before ball release. Similar decreases in joint velocities and in joint accelerations and decelerations in the cerebellar and unskilled groups are consistent with the idea that the absence of the skill of throwing fast in both groups is associated with an inability to exploit interaction torques.
Cerebellum 2008
PMID:Kinematics of arm joint rotations in cerebellar and unskilled subjects associated with the inability to throw fast. 1859 49

A subtype-specific impairment of cognitive functions in spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) patients is still debated. Thirty-two SCA patients (SCA1, 6; SC2, 3; SCA3, 15; SCA6, 8) and 14 matched healthy controls underwent neuropsychological evaluation testing attention, executive functions, episodic and semantic memory, and motor coordination. Severity of ataxia was assessed with the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA), nonataxia symptoms with the Inventory of Non-Ataxia Symptoms. Depressive symptoms were evaluated with the Beck Depression Inventory. The SARA scores of our SCA patients (range 1-19.5) indicated an overall moderate ataxia, most pronounced in SCA6 and SCA1. Mean number of nonataxia symptoms (range 0-2.2) were most distinct in SCA1 and nearly absent in SCA6. SCA1 performed poorer than controls in 33% of all cognitive test parameters, followed by SCA2, SCA3, and SCA6 patients (17%). SCA 1-3 patients presented mainly attentional and executive dysfunctions while semantic and episodic memory functions were preserved. Attentional and executive functions were partly correlated with ataxia severity and fine motor coordination. All patients exhibited mildly depressed mood. Motor and dominant hand functions were more predictive for depressed mood than cognitive measures or overall ataxia. Besides motor impairments in all patients, SCA patients with extracerebellar pathology (SCA 1-3) were characterized by poor frontal attentional and executive dysfunction while mild cognitive impairments in predominantly cerebellar SCA6 patients appeared to reflect mainly cerebellar dysfunction. Regarding the everyday relevance of symptoms, (dominant) motor hand functioning emerged as a marker for the patient's mood.
Cerebellum 2010 Sep
PMID:Neuropsychological features of patients with spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) types 1, 2, 3, and 6. 2073 76