TY - JOUR
T1 - A cerebellar role in performance monitoring - Evidence from EEG and voxel-based morphometry in patients with cerebellar degenerative disease
AU - Peterburs, Jutta
AU - Thürling, Markus
AU - Rustemeier, Martina
AU - Göricke, Sophia
AU - Suchan, Boris
AU - Timmann, Dagmar
AU - Bellebaum, Christian
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research of the federal state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany (Ministerium für Innovation, Wissenschaft und Forschung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen; MIWF; Grant number 334-4 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2015/2/1
Y1 - 2015/2/1
N2 - The cerebellum applies an internal forward-model to predict the sensory consequences of actions. This forward-model is updated based on on-line performance monitoring. A previous study has shown that performance monitoring is altered in patients with focal vascular cerebellar lesions, but altered neural responses are not paralleled by impaired behaviour, and the critical cerebellar sites have yet to be identified. The present study investigated if saccadic performance monitoring is more severely altered in patients with cerebellar degenerative disease relative to the previously examined patients with focal vascular cerebellar lesions, and which cerebellar regions support performance monitoring. 16 patients and 16 healthy controls performed an antisaccade task while an electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. Error rates were increased, and the error-related negativity (ERN), an event-related potential (ERP) component associated with error processing/performance monitoring, was reduced while the error positivity (Pe), a later ERP component related to more conscious aspects of error processing, was preserved in patients. Thus, performance monitoring is altered in patients with cerebellar degeneration, confirming a critical role of the cerebellum for fast classification of saccadic accuracy. In contrast to patients with focal lesions, post-acute functional reorganization and compensation presumably is hampered by disease progression, resulting in altered neural processing and impaired behavioural performance. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) indicated the strongest effects for behavioural performance, with correlations between gray matter volume reduction in bilateral posterolateral regions (left Crus II and right lobule VI) and increased error rates. Moreover, somewhat smaller correlations were found for volume loss in left lobule VIIb/VIIIa and right lobule V and ERN amplitude, and in right Crus I and Pe amplitude. The present findings are consistent with involvement of posterolateral cerebellar regions in motor and cognitive functions.
AB - The cerebellum applies an internal forward-model to predict the sensory consequences of actions. This forward-model is updated based on on-line performance monitoring. A previous study has shown that performance monitoring is altered in patients with focal vascular cerebellar lesions, but altered neural responses are not paralleled by impaired behaviour, and the critical cerebellar sites have yet to be identified. The present study investigated if saccadic performance monitoring is more severely altered in patients with cerebellar degenerative disease relative to the previously examined patients with focal vascular cerebellar lesions, and which cerebellar regions support performance monitoring. 16 patients and 16 healthy controls performed an antisaccade task while an electroencephalogram (EEG) was recorded. Error rates were increased, and the error-related negativity (ERN), an event-related potential (ERP) component associated with error processing/performance monitoring, was reduced while the error positivity (Pe), a later ERP component related to more conscious aspects of error processing, was preserved in patients. Thus, performance monitoring is altered in patients with cerebellar degeneration, confirming a critical role of the cerebellum for fast classification of saccadic accuracy. In contrast to patients with focal lesions, post-acute functional reorganization and compensation presumably is hampered by disease progression, resulting in altered neural processing and impaired behavioural performance. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) indicated the strongest effects for behavioural performance, with correlations between gray matter volume reduction in bilateral posterolateral regions (left Crus II and right lobule VI) and increased error rates. Moreover, somewhat smaller correlations were found for volume loss in left lobule VIIb/VIIIa and right lobule V and ERN amplitude, and in right Crus I and Pe amplitude. The present findings are consistent with involvement of posterolateral cerebellar regions in motor and cognitive functions.
KW - Ataxia
KW - Cerebellar degenerative disease
KW - Cerebellum
KW - EEG
KW - Performance monitoring
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U2 - 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.01.017
DO - 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.01.017
M3 - Article
C2 - 25592368
AN - SCOPUS:84921048904
SN - 0028-3932
VL - 68
SP - 139
EP - 147
JO - Neuropsychologia
JF - Neuropsychologia
ER -