E-learning Course 3: The cerebellar theory of reading impairment (In your own time)
HPCSA Accreditation Number: PSB002/136/01/2022 for 3 general ceu’s in Level 1 for attendance.
Description:
Recording and multiple-choice questionnaire to complete in your own time.
This presentation will explore the role of the cerebellum in reading impairment (formerly known as dyslexia). The cerebellum has traditionally been conceptualised as the centre of motor control, balance and coordination. However, more recent evidence indicates that it may also be involved in nonmotor/cognitive functions. Indeed, it is now accepted that the cerebellum plays a key role in most neurocognitive and psychiatric disorders, although the exact mechanisms underpinning these relationships are not yet fully understood. In this presentation, the structure-function relationship of the cerebellum, and how this relates to motor and nonmotor functions in general, and reading in particular, will be explored. The first section will recap the basic anatomy of the cerebellum, describing its somatotopic functional organisation and key neural projections to supratentorial structures. Cerebellar Cognitive Affective Disorder or CCAS will be discussed briefly as an example of the range of cognitive and neuropsychiatric complications that are associated with cerebellar dysfunction. This is followed by a deep-dive into the role of the cerebellum in reading development. The reading network situates phonological decoding within posterior parietal and inferior frontal regions and semantic/orthographic processing within inferior occipito-temporal regions. Key fMRI studies examining a direct cerebellar-cerebral link to these regions are considered, together with neuropsychological models positing an indirect, and more complex relationship, where sensorimotor, language and learning networks contributes differentially to reading skills over developmental time. The last section demonstrates how cerebellar dysfunction can offer a potential causal explanation for both reading impairment in particular and the high comorbidity found in neurodevelopmental disorders in general. We conclude that the cerebellar model of dyslexia has clear implications for how reading impairment is conceptualised, assessed and treated in educational and clinical settings. It provides an integrated framework, based on neurscience, for the management of reading impairment within a neurodevelopmental context.
Where: E-learning
Date: In your own time
Presenter:
Joalida Smit
Neuropsychologist, Clinical Psychologist and Fine Artist
Clinical Psychologist MA Clin Psych (Stellenbosch)
Clinical Neuropsychologist MSc Neuropsychology (London, UK)
Diploma in Paediatric Psychology and Neuropsychology (Oxford)
