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Development of a Psychiatric Disorder Linked to Cerebellar Lesions

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Abstract

Cerebellar dysfunction plays a critical role in neurodevelopmental disorders with long-term behavioral and neuropsychiatric symptoms. A 43-year-old woman with a cerebellum arteriovenous malformation and history of behavioral dysregulation since childhood is described. After the rupture of the cerebellar malformation in adulthood, her behavior morphed into specific psychiatric symptoms and cognitive deficits occurred. The neuropsychological assessment evidenced impaired performance in attention, visuospatial, memory, and language domains. Moreover, psychiatric assessment indicated a borderline personality disorder. Brain MRI examination detected macroscopic abnormalities in the cerebellar posterior lobules VI, VIIa (Crus I), and IX, and in the posterior area of the vermis, regions usually involved in cognitive and emotional processing. The described patient suffered from cognitive and behavioral symptoms that are part of the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome. This case supports the hypothesis of a cerebellar role in personality disorders emphasizing the importance of also examining the cerebellum in the presence of behavioral disturbances in children and adults.

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Acknowledgements

We thank MT for her valuable collaboration. The editing support of Blue Pencil Science is also acknowledged.

Funding

No targeted funding reported.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ataxia Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, 00179, Rome, Italy

    Michela Lupo, Giusy Olivito, Libera Siciliano & Maria Leggio

  2. Neuroimaging Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy

    Giusy Olivito & Marco Bozzali

  3. Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Libera Siciliano & Maria Leggio

  4. SPInalREhabilitation Lab, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy

    Marcella Masciullo

  5. Clinical Imaging Science Center, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Brighton, UK

    Marco Bozzali

  6. Neurorehabilitation 1 and Spinal Center, Robotic Neurorehabilitation Lab, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy

    Marco Molinari

Authors
  1. Michela Lupo
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  3. Libera Siciliano
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  4. Marcella Masciullo
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  7. Maria Leggio
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michela Lupo.

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The experimental procedures were approved by the ethical committee of IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, and written consent was obtained from all participants according to the Declaration of Helsinki.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Lupo, M., Olivito, G., Siciliano, L. et al. Development of a Psychiatric Disorder Linked to Cerebellar Lesions. Cerebellum 17, 438–446 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-018-0926-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-018-0926-5

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