Accidental discovery reveals possible link between cerebellar function and motivation
Stanford researchers accidentally discover a new role (reward prediction) for the cerebellum, the primary brain region affected by spinocerebellar ataxias.
whoever posted this please remove it immediately. Cerebellar Ataxia is a medical diagnosis and has nothing at all to do with motivation. This article is offensive at best.
Thank you, for feedback.
Sharing this post for information to a wider audience. ( re: gaining differing opinions)
(as a side the same item as had very positive comments on many other platforms / communities)
i seriously think its bull and unless youâre ready to say how changes to the brain can POSSIBLY be caused by lack of motivation stay away from sharing this type of nonsense. its offensive.maybe you think other audiences reacted positively bc they just didnât tell you it was baloney.
Motivation the same as a physical problem? Who is kidding who?
1 Like
This is confusing me.
Are they saying that failed movement attempts are causing an error that is stored in the cerebellum and then it makes it harder for us to keep trying?
So if the cerebellum is messed up, what would that do to movement motivation? Is it possible that it could go the other way and a messed up cerebellum would not register failed movements? Therefore your body would keep trying to do things wrong?
Someone help me out here.
He used the term lack of motivation as related to cerebellar ataxia which to me is offensive bc theres no way thats even possible. MRI scans are not influenced by motivation. there is no link.
possible link is the keyword(s) tnx for the info !
Vâ:slightly_smiling_face: Recently, I messaged Mod Support to say that for health reasons I needed a break from moderating. Itâs possible to get âtoo close to a subjectâ it can become all enveloping and itâs just not healthy. Iâd been offering support on various groups for several years, and had unfortunately reached âburn outâ stage, I couldnât see the wood for the trees 
However, after receiving a PM from lin-da, complaining about the above post, Iâm just weighing in with my âtwo pennothâ.
Firstly, Alan Thomas is highly respected in the Ataxia Community, has Ataxia himself, is a Moderator on LWA, and tirelessly works on our behalf to attend numerous Medical Conventions and represent Ataxia.
I read through his link and personally didnât find it offensive in the way others have. Once I got past the the initial âblurbâ I managed to focus on âreward anticipation skillsâ âpsychological problems such as mild depression and impaired decision making, cognitive defectsâ. Symptoms I recognise in myself, and Iâd be grateful for any research that would lead to any potential viable treatment.
Then I got to the end paragraph. âHopefully, by raising awareness of the cerebellums role in motivating our behaviour, this research will draw more attention to the subtler psychological symptoms of SCAs that may have previously overlookedâ.
This was a report on research done by Stanford, itâs just information. Itâs unfortunate that unintentional offence has been caused, but surely any criticism should be toward the researchers, who could perhaps have explained their findings more âsensitivelyâ
And, as has been pointed out, it is only â a possible link â 
xB
1 Like
Thank you for very kind words THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU
Please take care, look after yourself
Alan
1 Like
Thank you, Beryl. I understand your point. The way you explained how you interpreted the article was more helpful. The author used term ââlack of motivationâ as a possible link to ataxiaâ, instead of depression, etc as a SYMPTOMS of ataxia which is blaming. I do think the way you explained it was more helpful but I stand by my original statement. Nevertheless, take care Beryl.
I believe all information should be posted here, whether we agree or not. No information could be offensive in itself. We all deserve to form our own opinions. So please keep your articles coming Alan_Thomas and keep up the good work! Your osts are the main reason I am on this forum!
1 Like
well I guess we can agree to disagree-since there is absolutely NO possible way that an MRI can be influenced by motivationâŚits just not possible. 
Washington U has recently completed a study along the same lines as Stanford:
https://www.newswise.com/articles/mindâs-quality-control-center-found-in-long-ignored-brain-area
What I personally found most interesting is the âMidnight Scan Clubâ and itâs findings: Dosenbach is a founding member of the Midnight Scan Club, a group of Washington University neuroscientists who have taken turns in an MRI scanner late at night, scanning their own brains for hours to generate a massive amount of high-quality data for their research. A previous analysis of Midnight Scan Club data showed that a kind of brain scan called functional connectivity MRI can reliably detect fundamental differences in how individual brains are wired.
azurelle
fundamental differences in how individual brains are wired is not the same thing as a lack of motivation! Letâs just end this-weâre not going to change anyoneâs minds.
lin-da, I canât speak for anyone else, but Iâm making no effort to change your mind, Iâm posting interesting information that is germane to the origins of this conversation.
You may feel free to disagree, however your disagreement is not cause to end the discussion.
azurelle
Thats just it ModSupport, you arenât. Because there is no way an MRI can show a lack of motivation which is what the original article stated.Iâm reacting to the statement that an MRI can show a link between CA and lack of motivation. Iâm done here.
Who really cares about the motivation thought. It really doesnât matter. The important thing is that research is happening.
4 Likes
I found this article to be very interesting. I would have found it very offensive if there were any suggestion that a lack of motivation causes ataxia,but my reading is that the researchers found that cerebellar damage may cause us problems with expecting that our actions will cause a reward. That is consistent with depression that some of us experience. As one of those people, I am not surprised that Brain damage has psychological effects.
I donât really understand what else this may say about us, because I have never seen any group that works harder to be ânormalâ than we do. My physical therapist even commented that she prefers working with neurological patients since we tend to work harder.
Linda4 â I agree with you. The research into cerebellar damage (or incorrect wiring as the case may be) is very interesting and could explain alot down the road!
azurelle