Cerebellum atrophy and development of a peripheral dysgraphia: a paediatric case

Two types of dysgraphia may be distinguished: the core ones, which reflect damage to the linguistic orthographic routes, and the peripheral ones, produced by alterations in the selection or execution of graphic motor patterns. We report the case of an 8-year-old male child, who consulted specialists due to difficulties in writing, with a background of acute cerebellar swelling at the age of 4. The writing pattern he has developed shows characteristic errors of a peripheral dysgraphia. The magnetic resonance imaging taken during the neuropsychological evaluation shows a mild atrophy in the cerebellum cortex. Our case is similar to previous studies of adult patients and equally supports the fact that the functional network responsible for the peripheral control of writing abilities may include the cerebellum, which not only maintains previously learnt writing processes but is also involved in the evolutionary acquisition of this ability.