The hallmark of individuals with cerebellar damage is difficulty

producing smooth, well-coordinated, multi-jointed

movements. Instead, movements tend to be decomposed
into jerky and imprecise elements, a condition referred
to as cerebellar ataxia.

Many of these difficulties in performing movements can be explained as disruption

of the cerebellum�s role in correcting errors in ongoing
movements, since the cerebellar error correction mechanism
normally ensures that movements are modified to
cope with changing circumstances. As described earlier,
the Purkinje cells and deep cerebellar nuclear cells recognize
potential errors by comparing patterns of convergent
activity that are concurrently available to both
cell types. The deep nuclear cells then send corrective
signals to the upper motor neurons in order to maintain
or improve the accuracy of the movement.

In contrast, individuals with

damage to the spinocerebellum have difficulty controlling
walking movements; they have a wide-based gait with small
shuffling movements, which represents the inappropriate
operation of groups of muscles that normally rely on sensory
feedback to produce smooth, concerted actions. These
individuals also have difficulty performing rapid alternating
movements, a sign referred to as dysdiadochokinesia.
Over- and underreaching, or dysmetria, may also occur.
Tremors, known as action or intention tremors, accompany
over- and undershooting of a movement, due to disruption
of the mechanism for detecting and correcting movement
errors