Emotional functions and psychological well-being in patients with cerebellar impairment

An increasing number of studies show the evidence of a significant impairment in executive function, language, sensory processing and emotion regulation in cerebellar patients. The aim of this study is to assess specific aspects of emotional functions and psychological well-being in a population of patient with cerebellar lesions. In order to address the effects of cerebellar lesions on emotional functions, such as emotion recognition and empathy skills, we administered the Reading the Mind in the Eyes (RME), the Faces Test and the Empathy Quotient (EQ) to 8 patients (age M = 47,13; DS = 18,18; sex F:M = 62, 5% : 37,5%) and to a control group of 16 volunteer (age M = 53,50; DS = 16,25; sex F:M = 62,5% : 37,5%). By the use of the Profile of Mood States (POMS), the Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWB), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) we evaluated psychological well-being. Correlations (Pearson's r) between scales and sub-scales have been performed and the scores of the two groups have been compared by means of the T-test. Cerebellar patients showed lower scores in the sub-scales Purposein Life and Environmental Mastery of the PWB. In addition, depression resulted significantly higher in cerebellar patients. Concerning emotional recognition, as measured with the Faces Test, significant differences resulted for social intelligence too, given the lower ability to infer complex mental states through face expressions assessed by the RME. No significant differences emerged in emotional expression, moods and feelings measured by the POMS, neither for the Empathy Quotient. The data support the hypothesis that the cerebellum could be involved in specific aspects of emotional procession. Moreover, deficits in these functions appear to be related with lower satisfaction with important aspect of psychological well-being, such as Environmental Mastery.