Child's Study of the Impact of PF Lesion on Motor Skills, Language, Cognitive Functioning and Social Cognition

Child's Study of the Distant Impact of Posterior Fossa Injury on Motor Skills, Language, Cognitive Functioning, and Social Cognition - a Combination of Clinical Assessments and Brain Imaging

One of the major complications of posterior fossa surgery is Posterior Fossa Syndrome (PFS). This syndrome is due to a possible complication of surgical excision of a tumor of the cerebellum (4th ventricle) and is characterized by transient postoperative mutism, dysarthria, behavioral, and affective disorders, as well as motor disorders. PFS is thought to be related to axonal lesions. The long-term consequences on the cognitive and psychosocial sphere of PFS have been widely documented. On the other hand, the literature concerning the consequences of this syndrome on language is much restricted. Beyond the language, the role of cerebellum would be central in cognition, some authors even comparing it to a great "conductor" who would underlie the learning of most motor and cognitive automatisms.

The physiopathology and the anatomo-functional correlates of motor, cognitive, and language functions after surgery of PF tumors are still rare and little known. The objective of this study is to analyze them via morphometric MRI analysis and functional and structural connectivity in children away from PF surgery, coupled with clinical data analysis.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient with a low grade glioma of the posterior fossa or a medulloblastoma
• Healthy volunteers without any tumor in the posterior fossa (control case)
• At one year of the last treatment for the retrospective groups, or patient who have an indication to a surgery of a tumor of the posterior fossa
• Eligibility to a functional MRI
• Informed consent dated and signed by the holder of the parental authority (if minor) or by the patient (if major) to take part in the study
• Affiliated to a Social Security scheme

Exclusion Criteria:

• Antecedent of neurologic, metabolic or genetic disease
• Brainstem glioma
• Have a contraindication to a MRI