The emerging role of the cerebellum in neurodegeneration linked to cognitive impairment.

The cerebellum has been largely overlooked in Alzheimer's disease, despite increasing evidence implicating its cognitive capacities and functional networks, which interacts with cerebral cortex to subserve cognition. A study by Lin et al. has indicated that the cerebellum is part of the integrated network in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), a prodromal state of Alzheimer's disease. The aMCI patients exhibited weaker cerebello-parietal functional connectivity but stronger cerebellar coupling with precuneus cortex, posterior cingulate gyrus, and caudate nucleus. These alterations in cerebello-cortical connectivity correlated with cognitive performance, suggesting a dynamic change of cerebello-cortical network related to cognitive change in aMCI.