Nicole Law1,2, Eric Bouffet3,
1Department of Psychology,
Program in Neuroscience & Mental Health, the Hospital for Sick Children,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 2Department of Psychology, Collaborative
Program in Neuroscience, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 3Department
of Haematology/Oncology, the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada; 4Southern Alberta Cancer Program, Alberta Children's
Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; 5Diagnostic Imaging, the
Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 6Radiation
Oncology, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 7Department
of Psychology, British Columbia Children's Hospital, Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canada; 8Department of Oncology, British Columbia
Children's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; 9Department
of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Cerebellar Mutism Syndrome (CMS) can be observed following resection of posterior fossa (PF) tumors and presents with abnormalities in speech/language production, cognition, and emotion. We examined differences in the integrity of input/output pathways connecting the cerebellum with cerebral regions in patients with CMS relative to patients without CMS and healthy controls using diffusion tensor imaging tractography. The cerebrocerebellar pathway connecting the right cerebellar hemisphere with left frontal regions showed greater damage in patients with CMS versus the other groups. Our findings suggest that the pathway connecting the cerebellum with areas of the brain important for language is disrupted in CMS.