title: What part of the cerebellum contributes to a visuospatial working memory task?
abstract: Although there is evidence that the cerebellum is involved in working memory (WM), it remains unclear which functions within WM the cerebellum supports and which structures are involved in WM. We tested whether the cerebellum is involved in the filtering of incoming information or in its storage. Using a statistical brain mapping approach in 29 patients with cerebellar ischemic stroke, we found that the cerebellum plays a gatekeeper role, as lesions of the tonsil, the lobus semilunaris inferior, and parts of the vermal pyramid rendered WM susceptible to irrelevant information. We conclude that the cerebellum controls incoming WM information.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Mainz.
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Baier
authors.forename: Notger G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dieterich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002526:Cerebellar Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult