In addition to interactions with limbic system structures, the cerebellum also influences functions classically associated with frontal lobe functioning, suggesting a role for frontocerebellar circuitry (Schmahmann 1997, 2004). As noted earlier in the section on frontal lobes, this part of the brain has executive control functions such as cognitive flexibility, aspects of attention, speed in information processing, inhibition of preservative errors, abstractive and planning skills. There is ample evidence for alcohol’s untoward effects on the structure and function of the cerebellum and frontal lobes, and disruption of this circuitry is a potential mechanism underlying behavioral impairment characteristic of alcoholism (for reviews, see Oscar-Berman 2000; Ilinsky and Kultas-Ilinsky 2002; Sullivan 2003; Sullivan et al 2003).
