<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Your cerebellum is the lower-back region of your brain, consisting of two hemispheres (halves). It\u2019s located behind the top part of your brainstem, where your spinal cord connects with your brain. You may be surprised to learn that although your cerebellum makes up only about 10% of your brain\u2019s total weight, it contains roughly 50% of its message-transmitting nerve cells.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;So much nervous-system involvement in so little space! That suggests that your cerebellum has a big job, and so it does.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Your cerebellum helps you with coordination (moving the parts of your body smoothly and purposefully), posture, and balance as well as speech and a number of important mental processes. It does this by receiving information from your sensory systems (for example, your eyes and ears, your sense of smell and taste, and your sense of touch), your spinal cord, and other parts of your brain.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;h3&amp;gt;What Happens If the Cerebellum Is Damaged?&amp;lt;/h3&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Movement Problems.&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt; When your cerebellum is damaged, nerve cells break down and die. A disease or condition that damages your cerebellum \u2013 for example, &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/understanding-multiple-sclerosis-2440693&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;1&amp;quot;&amp;gt;multiple sclerosis&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;\u00A0(MS) \u2013 can cause poor balance and tremors (shaking) and slow down your ability to move.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Loss of control of the ability to move your body the way you want (voluntary movement) is called &amp;lt;em&amp;gt;ataxia&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt;.&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;A person with cerebellar damage is likely to walk unsteadily, even clumsily. He or she may look \u201Cdrunk\u201D even though that isn\u2019t the case.&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Cognitive Impairment.&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt; There\u2019s more that can happen if your cerebellum is damaged: You may have cognitive impairment (reduction in your conscious mental activities, such as thinking, learning, and remembering) as well.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;About 40% to 65% of &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/cognitive-dysfunction-symptom-multiple-sclerosis-2440794&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;2&amp;quot;&amp;gt;people with MS have cognitive impairment&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;, making it a core symptom of the disease. In approximately 11% of that group, the cerebellar symptoms are the strongest indication that a person has MS.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Generally speaking, MS mainly affects such cognitive functions as memory, mental \u201Cprocessing speed,\u201D executive tasks (for example, the ability to plan ahead or concentrate despite distractions), attention, and concentration.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;You should also be aware that, in MS patients, fatigue, depression, and physical disability can make problems with memory and processing speed worse.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;h3&amp;gt;The Cerebellum in Advanced MS&amp;lt;/h3&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;In a person with advanced MS, movement problems together with spasticity (muscle tightness or stiffness) may cause severe physical disability. In addition, the ongoing damage to the cerebellum may lead, for example, to slurred speech, \u201Cscanning\u201D speech (slow forming of words and pauses between words or even syllables), and the Charcot triad, consisting of scanning speech, nystagmus (rapid and involuntary eye movements), and intention tremor.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Intention &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/tremors-as-a-symptom-of-multiple-sclerosis-2440817&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;3&amp;quot;&amp;gt;tremor&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; is involuntary shaking of an extremity during visually guided, purposeful (intentional) activity, such as reaching for an object on a table. A person with MS who has intention tremor will often \u201Covershoot\u201D or \u201Cundershoot\u201D the target; this is called &amp;lt;em&amp;gt;dysmetria.&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt; &amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;sub&amp;gt;Sources:&amp;lt;/sub&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;sub&amp;gt;Weier K, Banwell B, Cerasa A, et al. &amp;amp;#34;Role of the cerebellum in multiple sclerosis.&amp;amp;#34;\u00A0&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;Cerebellum.&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt; 2015;14:364-374.\u00A0\u00A0 &amp;lt;/sub&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;sub&amp;gt;\u201CBalance: balance problems in MS.\u201D Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (2013).\u00A0 &amp;lt;/sub&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;sub&amp;gt;Apatoff BR. \u201CMultiple sclerosis (MS).\u201D &amp;lt;em&amp;gt;Merck Manual&amp;lt;/em&amp;gt;, professional version (2016).\u00A0 &amp;lt;/sub&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;sub&amp;gt;\u201CCerebellum.\u201D Healthline.com (2015).&amp;lt;/sub&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;sub&amp;gt;Hain TC. \u201CCerebellar disorders.\u201D Northwestern University: Chicago Dizziness and Hearing (2015).&amp;lt;/sub&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<https://www.verywell.com/ms-and-the-cerebellum-2440519>