The Cerebellum in Social Cognition

Sokolov, Arseny A.

doi:10.3389/fncel.2018.00145

Cited by 68 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 65 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…Many studies have examined the effects of stress on the cerebrum, such as the hippocampus, and found both neural and behavioral aberrations 9 . However, compelling evidence shows that the cerebellum, which is bidirectionally interconnected with vast regions of the forebrain [10][11][12][13][14] , is also profoundly affected by stress 15,16 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term aberrations to cerebellar endocannabinoids induced by early-life stress

Moussa-Tooks

Larson

Gimeno

et al. 2019

Preprint

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AbstractStudies of early-life stress traditionally focus on glucocorticoid signaling as a modulator of neurodevelopmental risk, but emerging evidence points to the role of the endocannabinoid system in long-term stress-induced neural remodeling. Existing studies on stress-induced endocannabinoid dysregulation have focused on changes to cerebrum that are temporally proximal to stressors, but little is known about temporally distal effects, especially in cerebellum, which is vulnerable to early developmental stress and is dense with cannabinoid receptors. Further, sex-specific effects of stress on cerebellar endocannabinoid tone are understudied. Following a naturalistic rodent model of early-life stress, limited bedding at postnatal days 2-9, adult (postnatal day 70) cerebellar and hippocampal endocannabinoids and related lipids and mRNA were assessed, and behavioral performance was evaluated. Regional and sex-specific effects were present at baseline and following early-life stress. Limited bedding impaired peripherally-measured basal corticosterone in adult males only. In the CNS, early-life stress (1) decreased 2-arachidonoyl glycerol and arachidonic acid in the cerebellar deep nuclei in males only; (2) decreased 2-arachidonoyl glycerol in females only in cerebellar Crus I; and (3) increased dorsal hippocampus prostaglandins in males only. Transcriptomics for cerebellar interpositus nucleus revealed substantial sex effects, with minimal effects of stress. Stress did impair novel object recognition in both sexes and social preference in females. Taken together, the cerebellar endocannabinoids system exhibits robust sex-specific differences, malleable through early-life stress and perhaps also contributing to sexual differentiation of the brain. The current study may foster future research into stress as a risk factor for cerebellar-related dysfunctions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-term aberrations to cerebellar endocannabinoids induced by early-life stress

Moussa-Tooks

Larson

Gimeno

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…Estimation of sample size was based on the distribution of the standardized beta coefficients of the regression between accuracy and probability in the PC-based, contextualized action prediction task in Literature has widely documented cerebellar engagement in social cognition tasks in both low-level and high-level processing (15,67). Accordingly, we could reasonably assume that VR-Spirit activates the cerebellum along with other cortical areas involved by social inference (20).…”

Section: Estimation Of Sample Sizementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given the increasing weight attributed to prediction mechanisms in neurocognitive models of how we understand others' intentions (13), recent studies have focused on the role of the cerebellum in social cognition (14,15), namely the set of mental processes that are needed to understand social interactions and regulate social behaviour (16). Research has confirmed that cerebellar diseases are associated with alterations in crucial aspects of social cognition, such as theory of mind (17,18) and emotional processing (19).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual Reality Social Prediction Improvement and Rehabilitation Intensive Training (VR-SPIRIT) for paediatric patients with congenital cerebellar diseases: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

Butti

Biffi

Genova

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Background: Patients with cerebellar malformations exhibit not only movement problems, but also important deficits in social cognition. Thus, rehabilitation approaches should not only involve the recovery of motor function but also of higher-order abilities, such as processing of social stimuli. In keeping with the general role of the cerebellum in anticipating and predicting events, we used a VR-based rehabilitation system to implement a social cognition intensive training specifically tailored to improve predictive abilities in social scenarios (VR-Spirit).Methods: The study is an interventional randomized controlled trial that aims to recruit 42 children, adolescents and young adults with congenital cerebellar malformations, randomly allocated to the experimental or active control group. The experimental group is administered the VR-Spirit, requiring the participants to compete with different avatars in the reaching of recreational equipment and implicitly prompting them to form expectations about their playing preference. The active control group participates to a VR-training with standard games currently adopted for motor rehabilitation. Both trainings are composed by 8 45-minute sessions and are administered in the GRAIL VR-Lab (Motekforce Link, NL), an integrated platform that allows patients to move in natural and attractive VR environments. An evaluation session in VR with the same paradigm used in the VR-Spirit but implemented in a different scenario is administered at the beginning (T0) of the two trainings (T1) and at the end (T2). Moreover, a battery of neurocognitive tests spanning different domains are administered to all participants at T0, T2 and in a follow-up session after two months from the end of the two trainings (T3).Discussion: This study offers a novel approach for rehabilitation based on specific neural mechanisms of the cerebellum. We aim to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of a new intensive social cognition training in a sample of Italian patients aged 7-25 years with congenital cerebellar malformations. We expect that VR-Spirit could enhance social prediction ability and indirectly improve cognitive performance in diverse domains. Moreover, through the comparison with a VR-active control training we aim to verify the specificity of VR-Spirit in improving social perception skills.Trial registration: ISRCTN, ISRCTN 22332873. Retrospectively registered on 12 March 2018. http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN22332873Keywords: Virtual reality; Social cognition training; Cerebellum; Paediatric patients; Rehabilitation; Grail.

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“…A range of studies demonstrated cognitive deficits related to the CCAS in patients with cerebellar damage, including executive, spatial, linguistic, and affective deficits [5]. Recently, the focus has shifted to deficits in social cognition and their influence on daily life [6][7][8]. Social cognition includes those brain functions which enable adequate behavior in social situations [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impairments in Emotion Recognition and Risk-Taking Behavior After Isolated, Cerebellar Stroke

et al. 2020

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An increasing amount of research has shown a cerebellar involvement in higher order cognitive functions, including emotional processing and decision-making. However, it has not been investigated whether impairments in facial emotion recognition, which could be a marker of impaired emotional experiences, are related to risky decision-making in these patients. Therefore, we aimed to investigate facial emotion recognition and risky decision-making in these patients as well as to investigate a relationship between these constructs. Thirteen patients with a discrete, isolated, cerebellar lesion as a consequence of a stroke were included in the study. Emotion recognition was assessed with the Facial Expressions of Emotions-Stimuli and Test (FEEST). Risk-taking behavior was assessed with the Action Selection Test (AST). Furthermore, 106 matched healthy controls performed the FEEST and 20 matched healthy controls performed the AST. Compared with healthy controls, patients were significantly worse in the recognition of emotional expressions and they took significantly more risks. In addition, a worse ability to recognize fearful facial expressions was strongly related to an increase in risky decisions in the AST. Therefore, we suggest that tests of emotion recognition should be incorporated into the neuropsychological assessment after cerebellar stroke to boost detection and treatment of these impairments in these patients.

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The Cerebellum in Social Cognition

Cited by 68 publications

References 65 publications

Long-term aberrations to cerebellar endocannabinoids induced by early-life stress

Long-term aberrations to cerebellar endocannabinoids induced by early-life stress

Virtual Reality Social Prediction Improvement and Rehabilitation Intensive Training (VR-SPIRIT) for paediatric patients with congenital cerebellar diseases: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

Impairments in Emotion Recognition and Risk-Taking Behavior After Isolated, Cerebellar Stroke

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