 Other terms used to describe the condition in dogs include cerebellar cortical atrophy and postnatal cerebellar cortical degeneration.Cerebellar abiotrophy in horses was originally thought to be a form of cerebellar hypoplasia (CH) and was described as such in older research literature.However, it was discovered that in horses, the die-off of purkinje cells began after the animal was born, rather than occurring "in utero."