Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2025 Mar 6;272(3):250.
doi: 10.1007/s00415-025-12967-8.

Cognition in cerebellar disorders: What's in the profile? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Stacha F I Reumers  1 , Fleur L P Bongaerts  2 , Frank-Erik de Leeuw  1 , Bart P C van de Warrenburg  1 , Dennis J L G Schutter  2 , Roy P C Kessels  3   4   5
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Cognition in cerebellar disorders: What's in the profile? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Stacha F I Reumers et al. J Neurol. .

Abstract

Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to examine the profile and extent of cognitive deficits in patients with cerebellar disorders, and to provide a complete overview of the cognitive domains that might be affected in the Cerebellar Cognitive Affective Syndrome (CCAS).

Methods: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and Web of Science were systematically searched to 17-07-2024. Studies were considered if the participants were adult patients with a clinical diagnosis of cerebellar disorder and were neuropsychological assessed. Outcomes were grouped into the domains of processing speed, language, social cognition, executive function, visuospatial skills, episodic memory, verbal intelligence, attention, and working memory. All aetiologies were included for first evaluation and patients were assigned to one of two groups (focal vs. degenerative) for secondary evaluation. Random-effects models were employed for the meta-analyses.

Results: 129 studies with a total of 3140 patients with cerebellar disorders were included. Patients performed significantly worse compared to control/standardized data in all domains. Deficits were most pronounced in processing speed, ES [95% CI] = - 0.83 [- 1.04, - 0.63], language, ES [95% CI] = - 0.81 [- 0.94, - 0.67], and social cognition, ES [95% CI] = - 0.81 [- 1.19, - 0.42]. Cognitive impairment varied between patients with focal cerebellar lesions and degenerative cerebellar disorders, but was overall worse in the degenerative group.

Discussion: Cerebellar disorders can impact many cognitive domains, extending beyond executive functioning, visuospatial skills, and language. These outcomes contribute to a broader understanding of the cerebellum's role in cognition and sheds light on the cognitive deficits associated with cerebellar disorders.

Keywords: Cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome; Cognitive dysfunction; Meta-analysis; Neuropsychological assessment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of included articles for this review
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Effect sizes with 95% CI per cognitive domain for all cerebellar etiologies
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Effect sizes with 95% CI per cognitive domain for both groups (focal vs. degenerative) separately
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Schmahmann JD, Sherman JC (1998) The cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome. Brain 121(Pt 4):561–579 - PubMed
    1. Schmahmann JD (2019) The cerebellum and cognition. Neurosci Lett 688:62–75 - PubMed
    1. Wolf U, Rapoport MJ, Schweizer TA (2009) Evaluating the affective component of the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 21(3):245–253 - PubMed
    1. Malek N et al (2022) A systematic review of the spectrum and prevalence of non-motor symptoms in adults with hereditary cerebellar ataxias. Move DisorD Clin Pract 9(8):1027–1039 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tedesco AM et al (2011) The cerebellar cognitive profile. Brain 134(12):3672–3686 - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources