cerebellum

is the main structure in the hindbrain, situated at the base of the brain, at the top of the spinal cord. The cerebellum controls our balance and postural stability, and is involved in motor coordination - not, it appears, in the initial learning of motor skills, but in the performance and improvement of learned motor skills. Some regions of the cerebellum are especially vulnerable to the effects of chronic alcoholism. The hindbrain, although far from the frontal lobes, is connected to those regions, most especially through the pons and the thalamus. Recent rat studies have also suggested that the cerebellum may be involved in some way in remembering strong emotions, in particular, in the consolidation of long-term memories of fear. There is also growing evidence that the cerebellum might also be involved in processing speech and language.

Chemotherapy alters brain tissue in breast cancer patients

October, 2010

More evidence for the reality of ‘chemobrain’, showing physical changes in the brain.

Over the years I’ve reported on a number of studies investigating the effect of chemotherapy on the brain. A new study uses brain imaging, before and after treatment for breast cancer, to show that there is an anatomic basis for “chemobrain” complaints. The study, involving 17 breast cancer patients treated with chemotherapy after surgery, 12 women with breast cancer who did not undergo chemotherapy after surgery, and 18 women without breast cancer, found that gray matter density decreased in the frontal lobe, temporal lobe, cerebellum and right thalamus, shortly after chemotherapy.

The areas affected are consistent with memory and executive functions like multi-tasking and processing speed being the most typically affected functions. Post-surgery scans were carried out at one month, and at one year. Gray matter density in most women had improved by one year after chemotherapy ended.

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