Reactivity to Visual Signals and the Cerebellar Vermis: Evidence From a Rare Case With Rhombencephalosynapsis

The modulatory role of the cerebellum was investigated in a case with rhombencephalosynapsis (RS), a rare dysplasia characterized by the absence of the cerebellar vermis. The visual psychophysical task involved localizing a target and ignoring a distractor appearing either before, at the same time a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral neuroscience 2009-02, Vol.123 (1), p.86-96
Main Authors: Michael, George A, Garcia, Sophie, Bussy, Gérald, Lion-François, Laurence, Guibaud, Laurent
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Agnosia
Attention - physiology
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Brain Diseases - pathology
Brain Disorders
Cerebellum
Cerebellum - abnormalities
Cerebellum - physiopathology
Child
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Human
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
Male
Neurological disorders
Neurology
Neuropsychological Tests
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychophysics
Reaction Time - physiology
Rhombencephalon - abnormalities
Rhombencephalon - physiopathology
Sensory perception
Time Factors
Visual Attention
Visual Perception - physiology
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The modulatory role of the cerebellum was investigated in a case with rhombencephalosynapsis (RS), a rare dysplasia characterized by the absence of the cerebellar vermis. The visual psychophysical task involved localizing a target and ignoring a distractor appearing either before, at the same time as, or after the target. It allowed us to assess reactivity to warning signals, distraction, and reactivity to signals appearing during attentive processing. Compared with a control sample, the patient exhibited greater reactivity to warning signals and difficulties interrupting attentive processing, whereas distraction was not increased. Complementary analyses showed that these deficits did not reflect just delayed development of attentional processes. These results suggest that the cerebellum modulates responsiveness and commands attentional/exploratory flexibility in response to sensory signals.
ISSN:0735-7044
1939-0084
DOI:10.1037/a0013726