Il cervelletto e le funzioni cognitive. Deficit del cervelletto nel disturbo dello spettro autistico.

The cerebellum is a very important part of the human nervous system. The purpose of this study is to analyze his cognitive functions and the role of cerebellar abnormalities in some diseases, focusing specifically on the autistic desease. In the first chapter the anatomical and functional features will be underlined, focusing on the cognitive functions and then on the deseases that result from cerebellar deficits. It will be underlined the course of studies about the cerebellum from the past since nowadays, when the use of modern techniques of functional exploration enabled more detailed and accurate studies. The massive use of these research techniques has changed a lot the vision of the human cerebellum focusing also on his cognitive functions. The second chapter will deal specifically with the autistic desease and how cerebellar deficits can conduce to many psychiatric disorders. The whole experimental findings show the cerebellar involvement in non motor nervous functions, even though we are still far from the identification of all the cerebellar control aspects.