Does the cerebellar sequential theory explain spoken language impairments? A literature review

Abstract

During the past decades, converging evidence from clinical, neuroimaging and neuroanatomical studies has demonstrated the key role of the cerebellum in the processing of non-motor aspects of language. Although more is known about the way in which the cerebellum participates in the mechanisms involved in written language, there is ambiguous information on its role in other aspects of language, such as in non-motor aspects of spoken language.Thus, to contribute additional insight into this important issue, in the present work, we review several original scientific papers focusing on the most frequent non-motor spoken language impairments evidenced in patients affected by cerebellar pathology, namely, verbal working memory, grammar processing and verbal fluency impairments. Starting from the collected data, we provide a common interpretation of the spoken language disorders in cerebellar patients, suggesting that sequential processing could be the main mechanism by which the cerebellum participates in these abilities. Indeed, according to the cerebellar sequential theory, spoken language impairments could be due to altered cerebellar function to supervise, synchronize and coordinate the activity of different functional modules, affecting the correct optimization of linguistic processing.

Contribution of the Cerebellum and the Basal Ganglia to Language Production: Speech, Word Fluency, and Sentence Construction—Evidence from Pathology

“…The connections between the topographically organized cerebellar cortex and the association areas primarily in the frontal and parietal regions represent the neural substrates of the cerebellar non-motor functions. The cognitive deficit that emerges following cerebellar lesions is largely driven by the type of cognitive ability which is specifically supported by the cortical areas the damaged cerebellar region is connected to and which the cerebellum modulates by monitoring timing and synchronization [68,69] in order to ensure the adherence of the outcome to predictions. In the presence of a cerebellar lesion, the mismatch between prediction and performance is the basis for a "dysmetric" behavior [64], i.e., a core feature of the cerebellar cognitive impairment.…”

A Functional Atlas of the Cerebellum Based on NeuroSynth Task Coordinates

“…The language network is unilaterally located on the right hemisphere, which corresponds with its contralateral left-hemispheric dominant position in the neocortex. The role of the cerebellum in grammatical and verbal processes is well established [ 59 ]. Although the language network is spatially close to the mentalizing network in the present analysis, the identification of an independent language function is in line with recent findings suggesting that although there might be some overlap between language and mentalizing at the group level, these networks can be distinguished [ 2 , 28 , 60 ].…”

The role of the cerebellum in sequencing and predicting social and non-social events in patients with bipolar disorder

“…Cerebellar sequential functioning has been demonstrated to contribute to information processing in the sensorimotor system ( Tesche and Karhu, 2000 ; Doyon et al, 2002 ; Restuccia et al, 2007 ; Morgan et al, 2021 ) and for cognitive functions, such as visuospatial functions ( Molinari et al, 1997 ; Leggio et al, 1999 ), language ( Fabbro et al, 2000 ; Leggio et al, 2000 , 2011 ; Tedesco et al, 2011 ; Lupo et al, 2021a ), verbal working memory ( Silveri et al, 1998 ; Chiricozzi et al, 2008 ; Leggio et al, 2011 ; Sheu and Desmond, 2022 ) and script sequences ( Leggio et al, 2008 ; Molinari et al, 2008 ; Morgan et al, 2021 ).…”