title: Does the cerebellum contribute to human navigation by processing sequential information?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Several authors have proposed that the cerebellum has an important role in functions of higher order as a general mode of sequence detection, independently from the nature of the information. The aim of this study was to verify whether the cerebellum mediates the processing of navigational sequential information and to determine whether it is influenced by the modality of the stimuli presentation.
  
  
  METHODS
  We tested 12 cerebellar patients and 12 healthy age-matched participants in 2 comparable navigational tasks (Walking Corsi Test and the Magic Carpet) requiring to memorizing a sequence of spatial locations. The 2 tasks differ each other for the modality of stimuli presentation: in the Walking Corsi Test the sequence is shown by an examiner that walks on the carpet, whereas in the Magic Carpet it is shown by a computer that lights up the tiles in the sequence. We hypothesize that different mental processes are implicated between the Walking Corsi Test and the Magic Carpet. Indeed, whereas watching the examiner, who performs the sequence on the carpet, allows the patient to simulate the action mentally in the Walking Corsi Test, such simulation cannot be triggered in the Magic Carpet.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results showed that cerebellar patients obtained scores significantly lower than control participants only in the Magic Carpet.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We interpreted the patients' performance as a specific deficit in detecting and ordering single independent stimuli as a sequence, when the maintenance of stimulus-response associations is more demanding. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome.
authors.forename: Anna M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Tedesco
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome.
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bianchini
authors.affiliation: Di.Vi.Na. Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Piccardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Clausi
authors.affiliation: LPPA, College de France.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berthoz
authors.affiliation: Neurorehabilitation 1 and Spinal Center, Robotic Neurorehabilitation Lab, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Molinari
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guariglia
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leggio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001244:Association; D002526:Cerebellar Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D065852:Spatial Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D065854:Spatial Navigation / Q000502:physiology*