Resistance, Vulnerability and Resilience: A Review of the Cognitive Cerebellum in Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases.

Resistance, Vulnerability and Resilience: A Review of the Cognitive Cerebellum in Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases. Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2019 Jan 07;: Authors: Liang KJ, Carlson ES Abstract In the context of neurodegeneration and aging, the cerebellum is an enigma. Genetic markers of cellular aging in cerebellum accumulate more slowly than in the rest of the brain, and it generates unknown factors that may slow or even reverse neurodegenerative pathology in animal models of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Cerebellum shows increased activity in early AD and Parkinson's disease (PD), suggesting a compensatory function that may mitigate early symptoms of neurodegenerative pathophysiology. Perhaps most notably, different parts of the brain accumulate neuropathological markers of AD in a recognized progression and generally, cerebellum is the last brain region to do so. Taken together, these data suggest that cerebellum may be resistant to certain neurodegenerative mechanisms. On the other hand, in some contexts of accelerated neurodegeneration, such as that seen in chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) following repeated traumatic brain injury (TBI), the cerebellum appears to be one of the most susceptible brain regions to injury and one of the first to exhibit signs of pathology. Cerebellar pathology in neurodegenerative disorders is strongly associated with cognitive dysfunction. In neurodegenerative or neurological disorders associated...
Source: Neurobiology of Learning and Memory - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Neurobiol Learn Mem Source Type: research