Consensus Paper: Language and the Cerebellum: an Ongoing Enigma

Abstract

In less than three decades, the concept “cerebellar neurocognition” has evolved from a mere afterthought to an entirely new and multifaceted area of neuroscientific research. A close interplay between three main strands of contemporary neuroscience induced a substantial modification of the traditional view of the cerebellum as a mere coordinator of autonomic and somatic motor functions. Indeed, the wealth of current evidence derived from detailed neuroanatomical investigations, functional neuroimaging studies with healthy subjects and patients and in-depth neuropsychological assessment of patients with cerebellar disorders shows that the cerebellum has a cardinal role to play in affective regulation, cognitive processing, and linguistic function. Although considerable progress has been made in models of cerebellar function, controversy remains regarding the exact role of the “linguistic cerebellum” in a broad variety of nonmotor language processes. This consensus paper brings together a range of different viewpoints and opinions regarding the contribution of the cerebellum to language function. Recent developments and insights in the nonmotor modulatory role of the cerebellum in language and some related disorders will be discussed. The role of the cerebellum in speech and language perception, in motor speech planning including apraxia of speech, in verbal working memory, in phonological and semantic verbal fluency, in syntax processing, in the dynamics of language production, in reading and in writing will be addressed. In addition, the functional topography of the linguistic cerebellum and the contribution of the deep nuclei to linguistic function will be briefly discussed. As such, a framework for debate and discussion will be offered in this consensus paper.

Retention of Gadolinium-Based Contrast Agents in Multiple Sclerosis: Retrospective Analysis of an 18-Year Longitudinal Study

“…Most interesting, executive function, including verbal fluency, is less frequently affected compared with episodic memory and information-processing speed in MS. 32 Verbal fluency also declines after pallidotomy and cerebellar damage; this finding highlights the importance of these structures in verbal fluency. 33,34 Furthermore, a recent study in MS showed that higher functional connectivity between the DN and prefrontal, motor, and parietal cortices is associated with lower structural parenchymal damage and less clinical impairment. 35 However, many other areas of the brain are affected by MS, which may be more closely related to the decline in our neuropsychological test results.…”

Cerebellar tDCS Modulates Neural Circuits during Semantic Prediction: A Combined tDCS-fMRI Study

“…Cerebellar activation during articulation localizes medially to bilateral lobule VI (Frings et al, 2006); nonmotor components of language primarily engage lateral right lobules VI and VII (Frings et al, 2006;, consistent with the contralateral projections between the cerebellum and cerebral cortex. Although traditionally cerebellar damage has been associated with dysarthric speech, posterolateral cerebellar damage can result in a range of language deficits, including impaired naming, verbal fluency, verb production, grammaticality of speech, word stem completion, and syntactic comprehension (Schmahmann and Sherman, 1998;Limperopoulos et al, 2007;Bolduc and Limperopoulos, 2009;Mariën et al, 2014). Further, such language deficits can exist even in the absence of dysarthria, which typically results from damage to the cerebellar regions (medial lobule VI) that are engaged during articulation (Fiez et al, 1992;Schmahmann and Sherman, 1998;.…”

The Cognitive Face of Cerebellum; Implications for Extended Research

“…Those include impaired phonological and semantic fluency (26,27), naming and word-finding difficulties (9,13,26), cerebellar-induced aphasia (28), reading and writing difficulties, higher-level language deficits, including disturbed listening comprehension, impaired language proficiency and metalinguistic ability (26), central-auditory functions (26,29), agrammatism (2,9,26,29,30), dysprosodia (9), morphosyntactic features and the lexical access (31). The contribution of cerebellum in some higher-order linguistic processes such as speech timing, phonological aspects of lexical access, top-down mechanisms giving rise to expectations of upcoming verbal events(9), verb generation (8,32), and rhyming judgments(33) has widely been discussed.…”

“…The neuroanatomical circuits that subsurve the cognitive and affective roles of cerebellum consist of the corticoponto-cerebellar and cerebellothalamo-cortical loops which establish a close connection between the cerebellum and the supratentorial motor, paralimbic and association cortices (9). These connections suggest the contribution of cerebellum to functions such as working memory, language, emotion, etc.…”