The Impact of Cerebellar Disorders on Musical Ability

Journal

Journal of the Neurological Sciences

Year

2014

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The cerebellum contributes not only to motor coordination but also to cognitive processing. Emphasizing the cerebro-cerebellar connectivity, present literature declares a decisive role of the cerebellum in music perception. METHODS: Patients with cerebellar disorders (n=15) due to infarction or genetically caused degeneration were tested on their musical ability and compared to matched healthy control subjects. We used a validated and standardized test of musical ability including the reproduction of rhythm and meter, melody comparison, emotion identification, pitch discrimination and the recognition of familiar melodies. RESULTS: The patient group presented significantly lower scores in the subtests meter, melody comparison and emotion identification as compared to healthy control subjects. Rhythm reproduction and pitch discrimination were not affected by cerebellar disorders. DISCUSSION: Testing musical ability in cerebellar disorders may serve as an additional tool to detect and quantify cognitive deficits, namely for music perception. As a consequence, it might be that musical stimulation can be helpful in cognitive impairment due to cerebellar lesions.

Music and Health Institute Terms

Cognitive Abilities; Music and Cognition; Music Perception; Neurodegenerative Disorders; Observational Measures; Parkinson's Disease; Physiological Measures

Indexed Terms

Elderly; Auditory Perceptual Disorders; Cerebellar Diseases; Cerebellum; Machado-Joseph Disease; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Motor Skills Disorders; Music perception; Musical ability; Pitch Perception; Statistics, Nonparametric

Study Type

Case Study; Qualitative Methods

Document Type

Article

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