Wednesday 21 December 2011

the cerebellum and cognition

In the spirit of the season, I'd like to share an article on a condition I had never heard of before this morning - Schmahmann's Cerebellar Cognitive Affective Syndrome. This article is freely available online (gotta love the internet!): http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=101899

If you're looking for a brief review of how the cerebellum affects cognition, this article from 2004 looks like a gentle introduction.

If you want a more intensive and recent text to study, then Koizol and Budding's Subcortical Structures and Cognition: Implications for Neuropsychological Assessment is worth considering. It has very good and thoughtful reviews on Amazon, though a couple of reviews from people with neuroscience backgrounds suggests that neuropsychologists may be a few decades out of date with our cortico-centric view of neuropsychological function. Another good reason for the neuropsychologist to brush up on contemporary neuroscience:)
Subcortical Structures and Cognition: Implications for Neuropsychological Assessment

http://www.amazon.com/Subcortical-Structures-Cognition-Implications-Neuropsychological/dp/0387848665/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

You don't need to buy it from Amazon, of course. Booko.com ( http://www.booko.com.au ) will give you a list of online retailers selling just about any book you fancy, and gives you a link to their site (in Oz at least - DK if there's an equivalent elsewhere)

Anyway, thanks to Alex Troster for mentioning Schmahmann's CCAS. The syndrome seems to describe a patient I've seen recently, and while it doesn't clarify the diagnosis, as many diseases can affect the cerebellum, it does help make sense of the odd neuropsychological profile. And inspires me to expand the horizons of my neuroknowledge rather than indulging in fiction in the holidays (lucky I finished the final book of the Inheritance cycle a few weeks ago).

Wishing everyone a peaceful and happy festive season, whether you're in Australia, north America, Singapore, Lithuania, Russia, New Zealand, or anywhere else on this beautiful and amazing planet of ours.

Fiona

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