Journal of the Neurological Sciences
Volume 290, Issue 1 , Pages 183-185, 15 March 2010

A syndrome of the dentate nucleus mimicking psychogenic ataxia

  • Farid Salih

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurology, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Germany
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Dept. of Neurology, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany. Tel.: +49 30 450 560011; fax: +49 30 450 560904.
    • Equal contribution.
  • ,
  • Eva Breuer

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurology, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Germany
    • Equal contribution.
  • ,
  • Daniel Harnack

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurology, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Germany
  • ,
  • Karl-Titus Hoffmann

      Affiliations

    • Department of Radiology, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Germany
  • ,
  • Christoph J. Ploner

      Affiliations

    • Department of Neurology, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Germany

Received 18 February 2009; received in revised form 17 September 2009; accepted 19 October 2009. published online 18 November 2009.

Abstract 

To date, cerebellar involvement in control of non-motor functions like cognition and emotion is increasingly well established. Current models suggest that motor and non-motor networks connecting the cerebellum with cortical areas operate independently in closed and segregated loops. Here, we report a 59-year-old female patient with a small cerebellar lesion that shows that cognitive activation can significantly influence cerebellar motor control. Surprisingly, this led to a clinical picture mimicking a psychogenic disorder. Similar to non-human primates, this case suggests that the human dentate nucleus consists of distinct cognitive and motor domains with additional somatotopical arrangement of the latter. Extending current models of cerebro-cerebellar interaction, this case further illustrates that there can be significant functional cross-talk between motor and cognitive cerebellar networks.

Keywords: Dentate nucleus, Cerebellum, Ataxia, Cognitive distraction, Psychogenic movement disorders

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PII: S0022-510X(09)00935-6

doi:10.1016/j.jns.2009.10.017

Journal of the Neurological Sciences
Volume 290, Issue 1 , Pages 183-185, 15 March 2010