Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate everyday executive functioning abilities
in patients with focal cerebellar lesions using an executive battery sensitive for
the detection of damage to the prefrontal cortex, including a “real life” situation
task. Eleven patients with focal cerebellar infarcts were studied prospectively after
their injury. All subjects underwent a complete neurological, neuropsychiatric, and
neuropsychological examination, as well as a specific computerized battery (Test of
Attentional Performance), and an “ecological” test: the Multiple Errands Task-hospital
version (MET-hv, adapted version). Significant differences were found between patients
and normal controls in language and executive functions tasks. Significant differences
were observed in the flexibility subscale of the Test of Attentional Performance and
several subscales of the MET-hv (total amount of failures, interpretation failures,
task completion score, and inefficiencies subscale). This study supports previous
reports showing a pattern of cognitive abnormalities following focal cerebellar damage
that includes impairments of executive function. Moreover, it suggests that the ecological
test used in this investigation might be useful for the detection of deficits in real-life
executive functioning among this patient population.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 06, 2009
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© 2009 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
