Neuroplasticity of emotional processing in cerebellar lesions as evidenced by event-related potentials

Background: Recent neuroimaging studies provided consistent evidence for an engagement of cerebellar modules in affective and attentional processes instead of being exclusively higher supratentorial functions. Here, we report on a sixty-three year old man suffering from a cardioembolic infarction of the right-hemispheric cerebellum. Beyond a hemiataxia he presented with severe cognitive deficits and affective symptoms (lowered personal distance, diminished impulsive control). Visual event-related potential (ERP) results from this patient initially indicated disturbances of attention-dependent early processing wi…