Lesions in the cerebellum impact cross-modal temporal predictions

Abstract

The cerebellum (CE) supports the encoding of the precise sensory event timing and the generation of temporal predictions. Here we investigated whether focal CE lesions impact temporal predictions in a cross-modal context. Individuals with CE lesion (n=9) and healthy-matched controls (HC) were presented with visuo-auditory stimulus pairs, presented in a temporally regular (predictable) or irregular (unpredictable) manner while EEG was recorded. We hypothesized cross-modal temporal predictions to be mediated by pre-stimulus cerebello-cortical beta-band (12-25Hz) activity. In turn, we expected HC, but not CE patients, to show a modulation of pre-stimulus beta power as a function of temporal prediction. HC showed greater pre-stimulus beta-band suppression in anticipation of sound onsets, and stronger post-stimulus delta- and theta-band (1-4Hz; 4-8Hz) power in the predictable than the unpredictable condition. Furthermore, they displayed a significant modulation of pre-stimulus delta-beta cross-frequency coupling as a function of temporal prediction. These effects were not observed in the CE group. Results confirm that cerebellar lesions impair the generation of temporal predictions in cross-modal (visuo-auditory) stimulus processing, extending the role of cerebellar predictive timing from sensorimotor to motor-independent cross-modal perception.