Timmann Dagmar, Drepper J, Maschke M, Kolb F P, Böring D, Thilmann A F, Diener H C
Department of Neurology, University of Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, D-45122 Essen, Germany.
Neuropsychologia. 2002;40(7):788-800. doi: 10.1016/s0028-3932(01)00181-6.
There is a strong evidence that the cerebellum is involved in associative motor learning. The exact role of the cerebellum in motor learning, and whether it is involved in cognitive learning processes too, are still controversially discussed topics. A common problem of assessing cognitive capabilities of cerebellar patients is the existence of additional motor demands in all cognitive tests. Even if the patients are able to cope well with the motor requirements of the task, their performance could still involve compensating strategies which cost them more attentional resources than the normal controls. To investigate such interaction effects of cognitive and motor demands in cerebellar patients, we conducted a cognitive associative learning paradigm and varied systematically the motor demands and the cognitive requirements of the task. Nine patients with isolated cerebellar disease and nine matched healthy controls had to learn the association between pairs of color squares, presented centrally on a computer monitor together with a left or right answer button. In the simple motor condition, the answer button had to be pressed once and in the difficult condition three times. We measured the decision times and evaluated the correctly named associations after the test was completed. The cerebellar subjects showed a learning deficit, compared to the normal controls. However, this deficit was independent of the motor difficulty of the task. The cerebellum seems to contribute to motor-independent processes, which are generally involved in associative learning.
有强有力的证据表明小脑参与了联合运动学习。小脑在运动学习中的确切作用，以及它是否也参与认知学习过程，仍然是存在争议的讨论话题。评估小脑患者认知能力的一个常见问题是，在所有认知测试中都存在额外的运动需求。即使患者能够很好地应对任务的运动要求，他们的表现仍可能涉及补偿策略，这比正常对照组消耗他们更多的注意力资源。为了研究小脑患者认知和运动需求的这种相互作用效应，我们进行了一种认知联合学习范式，并系统地改变了任务的运动需求和认知要求。九名患有孤立性小脑疾病的患者和九名匹配的健康对照者必须学习颜色方块对之间的关联，这些颜色方块对在电脑显示器中央呈现，并伴有一个左或右答案按钮。在简单运动条件下，答案按钮只需按一次，而在困难条件下则需按三次。我们测量了决策时间，并在测试完成后评估了正确命名的关联。与正常对照组相比，小脑受试者表现出学习缺陷。然而，这种缺陷与任务的运动难度无关。小脑似乎有助于与运动无关的过程，这些过程通常参与联合学习。
