ANA Discussion Forum
Archive => Archives => Topic started by: Raydean on May 20, 2006, 08:08:49 pm
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I'm not much of a TV watcher, but when I do watch TV I love to watch the Forensic shows.
(I know what the heck does this have to do with AN's). Anyway I was watching the show based in Montana where a person was missing, and cerebellum tissue was found. Which told them the person was dead because the cerebellum controls the heart, memory and motor skills. ÂÂ
That caught my attention, so I did some quick research. Often times we think in terms of injury to the cranial nerve as the cause of, or focus of outcomes but clearly the cerebellum could be contributing. I've thought of balance problems as a balance nerve, sight, issue , not a cerebellum issue. I knew that Chet has Ataxia, but not where it or the nystagmus originated from. Guess what? It's listed under symptoms of the cerebellum. I've pasted a little of the information below from 2 sites. I've been a long time member of this board and over time I've seen postings from various forum members asking questions regarding each problem area listed in the last paragraph. For more information do a google search on functions of the cerebellum.
I hope othere find this as interesting as I did.
RaydeanÂÂ
Tremors
nystagmus "involuntary movement of the eye"
Ataxia "lack of coordination"
Second site
Cerebellum
Receives inputs from cortex & spinal cord and from visual, auditory, and vestibular nuclei.
Outputs are to the descending tract to control motor execution, to motor and premotor cortices for motor planning, and to the vestibular nuclei for balance and eye movements.
CEREBELLUM - Functions
Coordination and planning of skilled voluntary movement
Promotes synchrony and accuracy of movements required for precise, purposeful movements
Plays a central role in both the ordering and the proper timing of the initiation and termination of the many sequential motor steps required in most purposeful movements.
Influence locomotion, but is not essential for the generation of the basic movement patterns.
Role in motor learning ???
Cerebellar Dysfunction
Ataxia - loss of muscle coordination
Dysmetria - overshoot/undershoot target
Intention Tremor - tremor with voluntary movement.
Dysdiadochokinesia - inability to perform rapid alternating movements
Decrease in muscle tone
The cerebellum is involved in the coordination of voluntary motor movement, balance and equilibrium and muscle tone. It is located just above the brain stem and toward the back of the brain. It is relatively well protected from trauma compared to the frontal and temporal lobes and brain stem.
Cerebellar injury results in movements that are slow and uncoordinated. Individuals with cerebellar lesions tend to sway and stagger when walking.
Damage to the cerebellum can lead to: 1) loss of coordination of motor movement (asynergia), 2) the inability to judge distance and when to stop (dysmetria), 3) the inability to perform rapid alternating movements (adiadochokinesia), 4) movement tremors (intention tremor), 5) staggering, wide based walking (ataxic gait), 6) tendency toward falling, 7) weak muscles (hypotonia), 8) slurred speech (ataxic dysarthria), and 9) abnormal eye movements (nystagmus).
Return to Brain Map
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Thanks for this Raydean.... i figure this also explains why i type in such a dyslexic way ;)....
being "tired" or any umpteen other "reasons" i have heard never did cut it for me...... i used to type all night while writing without much of any spelling mistakes.I used to edit for content and ideas. Now for some time it's been how many words are topsy turvy etc... Pages and pages. When i began typing a good third of pages with words all backwards with the letters I knew something was wrong. Took a while before my An was discovered, despite other symptoms too.
I've been wondering how many An patients with an An even remotely pressing on the cerebellum, have had their writing or typing become "dyslexic"?...
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I know my typing and speaking are definetly "dyslexic". I don't realize I am doing it while typing, but checking back I always manage to mix up my words, same as with speaking. I have such a hard time trying to find the right words or finishing my sentences. My family noticed it shortly before my surgery and it was more pronounced after.
My fine motor skills are also affected and I have involuntary movements in my hands and fingers.
Thank you Raydean for posting this information. I love the forensic shows on court tv.
Cheryl
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Raydean,
My handwriting has been ruined from the tumor pressing on the cerebellum. I have a hard time even holding the pen correctly. Hopefully this skill will return to me in time. Even though the tumor is no longer there, it seems to have left an imprint or indentation on my brain.
I'm only 8 months out from surgery so maybe it will eventually right itself.
Paul
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I haven't had surgery yet, but my tumor is causing pressure to the cerebellum. I haven't learned yet if it's due to the tumor but the radiologist's report notes focal ischemia in the left cerebellum (my tumor is on the right). I have noticed in the last couple years that when I'm keyboarding I am not getting the letters in order....sometimes like one hand is working faster than the other so I do things like "adn" instead of "and" a lot. The timing is more off than it used to be. I thought it was just an age thing. Maybe it is. I'm also noticing in the last couple weeks that when I wake up, my right arm feels like I've been sleeping on it, but I haven't, I sleep on my left side. No handwriting problems as of yet...my dominant hand is my AN side hand, so I'll be interested in what happens post surgery.
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My AN wasn't pressing on my brainstem or cerebellum, but I have an unusually small head (yes, I am a pinhead) and I believe there may have been some injury to the cerebellum during retraction and surgery. My husband accuses me of "slamming things around" like dishes and the vacuum cleaner, but that term for "overshooting or undershooting" the target seems to fit. I say that "I don't know where flat is" like putting my top heavy pepper grinder down and it keeps falling over. Hmmm..................
Capt Deb
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Thanks Raydean!
Very interesting especially since I had the bad neurologist I saw say my cerebellum was affected. My tumor was in the back of my head pressing on my brainstem. I have all the problems everyone mentioned. I often get my letters and words mixed up. I also keep knocking things over...pesky salt and pepper shakers need to stay put! LOL
I have an appt with family doc tomorrow so will bring this up with him for his thoughts.
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Forgot to mention that my handwriting is also a mess. I can't seem to form my letters correctly and it becomes scribble. I finally went out and bought some childrens handwriting work books and practice on those. I tend to type alot more than I write, so I force myself to write out at least half a page everyday. It is helping.
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I am the same way .. writing and typing was very bad ... as far the typing . being a programmer, I'm at the keyboard for 9 hours a day.. it was hard at first, used the backspace ALL the time (and I would miss the backspace which would dive me crazy) the helpdesk manager was great ! she made my account so it did NOT "disable" after 3 bad try's , and password did not expire each month ... I remember the first time I logged in after surgery .. took me a good 30 min after a zillion tries to type the password right, it had to re-learn how to type...and by the way my typing is back to normal now!! .. but remember I've been at it for 50 hours a week for 10 months!!
I have not practiced my writing even close to the same amount of time .. so I still have a ways to go ... most of my correspondence is on the computer so I don't need to write! Its funny the writing looks like it did when I first learned to write as a child !
I cant say I'm dyslexic .. but I forget how to spell simple words.. thank God for spell check!
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Wow!!................WOW!!!!!!
Has anyone found any reference material on this problem out there on the net?
Paul
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not really seen anything about it .. they are stoke like ... and mainly large AN issues....
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I've pretty much read all the same stuff about cerrebellum issues as Raydean posted. I've also read that must of the cerebellum issues do come from retraction during surgery. I even read once that in the old days, some surgeons would even cut part of the cerebellum out, saying the patient would never missed that small part ???
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This is an interesting thread. I'm amazed by all the different Cerebellar related issues that we can exhibit.
For anyone wanting to research further, this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebellum is a good place to start. It's a WIKI site, so it probably hasn't been vetted. But it gives a guick anotomical education on the Cerebellum, and its functions.
OBA350B, I've also seen articles mentioning cutting notches in the Cerebellum for tumor access. It gave me chills just thinking about how crude neurosurgery once was.
Regards,
Rob
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I'm newly diagnosed, and I've been experiencing the "dyslexia" and fatique, confusion, shakyness, and my major sympton of face tingle. My hearing is perfect...it seems like it all really depends on where the tumor is pressing...it makes me anxious to get treatment before it possibly grows or moves to press some other area on the brain.
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Hi mellowrama
I just read your post and wanted to share that the majority of posters in this particular thread had
large to giant tumors or other problems such as smaller head or inexperienced doctors or other factors such as hydrocepalus. It's important to know that the majority of treated ANer's have positive outcomes. Please research all of your options and don't make any decisions based on this thread, nor hurry your decision making process. Normally, these are slow growing tumors which safely allows you the time to research and make the best and right treatment options for yourself.
If we can be of any help please let us know.
Raydean