Search results for " Cerebellum"
showing 8 items of 18 documents
A Focus on the Cerebellum: From Embryogenesis to an Age-Related Clinical Perspective
2021
The cerebellum and its functional multiplicity and heterogeneity have been objects of curiosity and interest since ancient times, giving rise to the urge to reveal its complexity. Since the first hypothesis of cerebellar mere role in motor tuning and coordination, much more has been continuously discovered about the cerebellum’s circuitry and functioning throughout centuries, leading to the currently accepted knowledge of its prominent involvement in cognitive, social, and behavioral areas. Particularly in childhood, the cerebellum may subserve several age-dependent functions, which might be compromised in several Central Nervous System pathologies. Overall, cerebellar damage may produce nu…
Cerebellar magnetic stimulation decreases levodopa-induced dyskinesias in Parkinson disease
2009
BACKGROUND: The neural mechanisms and the circuitry involved in levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) are still partially obscure. LID can be considered the consequence of an abnormal pattern or code of activity that originates and is conveyed from the basal ganglia to the thalamus and the cortical motor areas. However, not only striatothalamocortical motor circuits but also other interconnected pathways could be implicated in its pathogenesis. METHODS: In a series of experiments, we applied repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the lateral cerebellum in a group of patients with advanced Parkinson disease, to investigate whether modulation of cerebellothalamocortical circuits…
Motor and linguistic linking of space and time in the cerebellum
2009
Background: Recent literature documented the presence of spatial-temporal interactions in the human brain. The aim of the present study was to verify whether representation of past and future is also mapped onto spatial representations and whether the cerebellum may be a neural substrate for linking space and time in the linguistic domain. We asked whether processing of the tense of a verb is influenced by the space where response takes place and by the semantics of the verb. Principal Findings: Responses to past tense were facilitated in the left space while responses to future tense were facilitated in the right space. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the right cereb…
Changes in intracortical circuits of the human motor cortex following theta burst stimulation of the lateral cerebellum
2008
Objective: The cerebellum takes part in several motor functions through its influence on the motor cortex (M1). Here, we applied the theta burst stimulation (TBS) protocol, a novel form of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) over the lateral cerebellum. The aim of this study was to test whether TBS of the lateral cerebellum could be able to modulate the excitability of the contralateral M1 in healthy subjects. Methods: Motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) amplitude, short intracortical inhibition (SICI), long intracortical inhibition (LICI) and short intracortical facilitation (SICF) were tested in the M1 before and after cerebellar continuous TBS (cTBS) or intermittent TBS (iTBS)…
Processing Past Tense in the left cerebellum
2014
We report the case of a patient with ischemic lesion of the left cerebellum, who showed specific deficits in processing past versus future tense of action verbs. These findings confirm, in the presence of cerebellar damage, previous results obtained with transcranial magnetic stimulation in healthy subjects and suggest a specificity of the left cerebellum for preparation of responses to the past tense of action verbs. As part of the procedural brain, the cerebellum could play a role in applying the linguistic rules for selection of morphemes typical of past and future tense formation.
Frequency-specific network activity predicts bradykinesia severity in Parkinson’s disease
2021
Highlights • Parallel subnetworks are affected in bradykinesia. • The primary motor and the premotor cortex are common nodes with task-specificity. • Beta activity decreases, gamma activity increases with improvement of bradykinesia. • Subthalamic stimulation reduces beta, increases gamma power in ipsilateral cortex. • Subnetworks act with frequency-specific oscillations.
Interference of left and right cerebellar rTMS with procedural learning.
2004
Abstract Increasing evidence suggests cerebellar involvement in procedural learning. To further analyze its role and to assess whether it has a lateralized influence, in the present study we used a repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation interference approach in a group of normal subjects performing a serial reaction time task. We studied 36 normal volunteers: 13 subjects underwent repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on the left cerebellum and performed the task with the right (6 subjects) or left (7 subjects) hand; 10 subjects underwent repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on the right cerebellum and performed the task with the hand ipsilateral (5 subjects) or contral…
Atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and oxytocin-expression in the adult rat and mouse cerebellum.
2015
Abstract Background: Many studies are in the literature on the ANP and oxytocin-presence in the brain, but very few studies with controversial results are reported on the presence of these peptides in the cerebellum. This immunohistochemical study investigates on the ANP and oxytocin-presence in the cerebellum of the adult rat and mouse rodents. Results: This study, firstly, evidences the ANP- immunopositivity in cerebellar cortex of both rat and mouse rodents. In rat the molecular layer presents some few immunopositive fibers, but no neuron resulted immunopositive; the granular and Purkinje cells are immunopositive. In mouse the cerebellar cortex ANP-immunopositivity is present in all laye…