Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Articles & Searches Download to citation manager Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Articles by Brandt, J. Articles by Margolis, R. L. Search for Related Content PubMed Citation Articles by Brandt, J. Articles by Margolis, R. L.

Cognitive Impairments in Cerebellar Degeneration: A Comparison With Huntington’s Disease

Received July 18, 2002; revised October 22, 2002; accepted November 1, 2002. From the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Departments of Neurology and Neuroscience; Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Brandt, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 N. Wolfe Street, Meyer 218, Baltimore, MD 21287-7218

To determine the specificity of cognitive impairments in patients with cerebellar degeneration (CD), the neuropsychological test performance of 31 CD patients was compared to that of 21 patients with Huntington’s disease (HD) and 29 normal adults. The CD and HD groups did not differ in age, education, or duration of illness, and their overall severity on a quantified neurological examination was similar. Fifteen neuropsychological test variables were reduced to five underlying domains: motor, verbal, spatial, memory, and executive functioning. The CD patients had their greatest impairment in the executive domain and their least in the memory domain. In contrast, the HD patients had very substantial spatial deficits and significant memory impairment, in addition to executive dysfunction. The findings indicate that 1) the cognitive impairment in CD is not as severe as in HD, and 2) the pattern of deficits in CD, while consistent with a subcortical dementia, differs in important ways from that in HD. These differences may reflect the involvement of the cerebellar dentate nucleus and the striatal nuclei in separate "loops" or closed circuits, linking them with specific areas of cerebral neocortex.

Key Words: Cerebellum • Neuropsychology • Cognition • Huntington’s Disease

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J Brandt, B Shpritz, C A Munro, L Marsh, and A Rosenblatt Differential impairment of spatial location memory in Huntington's disease J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, November 1, 2005; 76(11): 1516 - 1519. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. H. Taber, P. L. Strick, and R. A. Hurley Rabies and the Cerebellum: New Methods for Tracing Circuits in the Brain J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci, May 1, 2005; 17(2): 133 - 139. [Full Text] [PDF]

Get information about faster international access.

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2004 American Neuropsychiatric Association. All rights reserved.

Home | Search | Current Issue | Past Issues | Subscribe | All APPI Journals | Help | Contact Us