Research report Recovery of biological motion perception and network plasticity after cerebellar tumor removal Arseny A. Sokolov a,b,* , Michael Erb c , Wolfgang Grodd d , Marcos S. Tatagiba b , Richard S.J. Frackowiak a and Marina A. Pavlova c a D epartement des Neurosciences Cliniques, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland b Department of Neurosurgery, University of Tu ¨ bingen Medical School, Tu ¨ bingen, Germany c Department of Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, University of Tu ¨ bingen Medical School, Tu ¨ bingen, Germany d Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital Aachen, Aachen, Germany article info Article history: Received 5 March 2014 Reviewed 04 May 2014 Revised 21 May 2014 Accepted 27 May 2014 Action editor Laurel Buxbaum Published online xxx Keywords: Biological motion fMRI Visual processing Plasticity Cerebellum abstract Visual perception of body motion is vital for everyday activities such as social interaction, motor learning or car driving. Tumors to the left lateral cerebellum impair visual perception of body motion. However, compensatory potential after cerebellar damage and underlying neural mechanisms remain unknown. In the present study, visual sensitivity to point-light body motion was psychophysically assessed in patient SL with dysplastic gangliocytoma (LhermitteeDuclos disease) to the left cerebellum before and after neurosurgery, and in a group of healthy matched controls. Brain activity during processing of body motion was assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Alterations in underlying cerebro- cerebellar circuitry were studied by psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis. Visual sensitivity to body motion in patient SL before neurosurgery was substantially lower than in controls, with significant improvement after neurosurgery. Functional MRI in patient SL revealed a similar pattern of cerebellar activation during biological motion processing as in healthy participants, but located more medially, in the left cerebellar lobules III and IX. As in normalcy, PPI analysis showed cerebellar communication with a region in the superior temporal sulcus, but located more anteriorly. The findings demonstrate a potential for re- covery of visual body motion processing after cerebellar damage, likely mediated by topo- graphic shifts within the corresponding cerebro-cerebellar circuitry induced by cerebellar reorganization. The outcome is of importance for further understanding of cerebellar plas- ticity and neural circuits underpinning visual social cognition. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Visual processing of body motion is considered to be of substantial value for social competence and daily life activities (Pavlova, 2012). Most studies have been aimed at investigation of cortical areas involved in visual processing of biological motion such as the superior temporal sulcus, STS (e.g., Grossman & Blake, 2002; Herrington, Nymberg, & * Corresponding author.D epartement des Neurosciences Cliniques, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Rue du Bugnon 46, CH- 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland. E-mail address: arseny.sokolov@chuv.ch (A.A. Sokolov). Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cortex cortex xxx (2014) 1 e7 Please cite this article in press as: Sokolov, A. A., et al., Recovery of biological motion perception and network plasticity after cerebellar tumor removal, Cortex (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2014.05.012 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2014.05.012 0010-9452/© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.