Previous studies that have researched the functions of the cerebellum have focused on investigating individuals that have damage to their cerebellum, such as was the case with the Phineas Gage’s frontal lobe study that proved that the frontal lobe served an important role in personality and behavior. Recent studies have had the advantage of new technologies that could significantly aid in identifying whether or not the cerebellum plays a role in specific functions, these include functional imaging techniques such as fMRI and PET imaging, and these recent technological advances have paved the way for new studies that focus on brain region activation. This new method in researching the cerebellum has created new hypotheses for the functions of this crucial brain region, which include but are not limited to cognitive and perceptual functions as well as the already examined motor functions.
These emerging hypotheses have challenged the old views about the roles the cerebellum is implicated in. One of these hypotheses include the association Gao et al. made in the acquisition and discrimination of sensory information using innovative techniques such as that of magnetic resonance imaging of the lateral cerebellar nucleus, while additionally engaging individuals in both active and passive sensory tasks (1996). These results from the Gao et al. research are just one of the many investigations that have further supported the cerebellum’s function in sensory acquisition and discrimination, since the results of this specific experiment showed an activation during sensory stimulation without motor movements involved then we can successfully apply these findings to another function of the cerebellum (1996). However, another interesting find...
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... Parsons, L.M., Bower, J., Xiong J., Li J., & Fox, P. (1996). Cerebellum Implicated in Sensory Acquisition and Discrimination Rather Than Motor Control. Science, 272, 545-547.
Manto, M., Bower, J.M., Conforto, A.B., Delgado-Garcia, J.M., da Guarda, S.N., Gerwig, M., Habas, C., Hagura N., Ivry, R.B., Mariën, P., Molinari, M., Nairo, E., Nowak D.A., Oulad, B.T., Pelisson, D, Tesche, C.D., Tilikete, C., & Timman, D. (2012). Consensus Paper: Roles of the Cerebellum in Motor Control – The Diversity of Ideas on Cerebellar Involvement in Movement. Cerebellum, 11, 457-487.
Middleton, F.A., & Strick, P.L. (1994). Anatomical Evidence for Cerebellar and Basal Ganglia Involvement in Higher Cognitive Function. Science, 266, 458-461.
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A large concern of the field of neurobiology seems to be finding and understanding a connection between the structure and function of the nervous system. What tangible system of tissues is responsible for creating a given perceived output? Some outputs can be more easily traced back to a specific 'motor symphony' and the involved structures isolated. This problem has obsessed generations of scientists. One of the first of this generation of researcher was F.J. Gall who promoted the idea that observable features of the brain could lead to an understanding of specific traits of action (7). Gall's greatest opponent, Marie-Jean-Pierre Flourens published research on localization of function and among his findings was evidence for sensory perception in certain sub-cortical structures (7). However, when Flourens examined the cerebrum he did not get such clean results. He found that damage to the cerebrum would not compromise specific abilities in the patient based on area, but incapacitate the patient in different ways based on the extent of the created lesion. In other words, damage to the cerebrum effected a diminution of 'higher mental faculties' such as "perception intellect and will" according to how great the lesion actually was, not according to where in the hemispheres it occurred (7). His conclusion proposed these higher mental faculties as existing throughout the structures of the cerebrum, and not isolated as with sensory perception. How is it possible to attribute, say elements of personality to a specific structure? Is their a region of the brain responsible for the way we are? A 'nice' region, an 'angry' gland? Here we encounter the ever ephemeral concept of where the I-function lies within the nervous system.
McNeil (1997), states that an individual with ataxic dysarthria will have “drunken speech” which results from the particular vulnerability of the cerebellum (p. 217). The cerebellum may account for only ten percent of the brain’s volume, but it contains over fifty percent of the total number of neurons in the brain, which means that any damage to it can affect an individual’s motor speech. The cerebellum is responsible for coordination of movement and the process of sensory information. According to Knierim (1997), the cerebellum coordinates the timing and force of muscular contractions so that any skilled or voluntary movements can be appropriate for an intended task. It also processes sensory information from all over the body and assimilates that information into the execution of a movement. Above all, the cerebellum does not initiate any motor commands; it only modifies the movements that are being commanded.
This is a CONFIDENTIAL report that is intended to be used by professionals. It is not to be passed on to others without the permission of the author and the client. The results are not to be released to the client without the permission of the author or other professional trained in the interpretation of neuropsychological test data.
Sperry, R. W. (1982, September 24). Some Effects of Disconnecting the Cerebral Hemispheres. Science Megazine, 217, 1223-1226.
When examining the development of the human brain, it is known the first portion to develop is the cerebellum. The cerebellum is the seat of human life support systems and our natural instincts. Sharing the fight or flight responses, the experience of apprehension towards looming animals or objects, and a need to live and reproduce are innate. These all may be experienced to differen...
The MF-DCN synaptic plasticity mechanism was previously hypothesized to be a proper cerebellar gain controller which self-adapts its maximum output activity to minimize the inhibition impact of the inhibitory pathway already described (Garrido et al., 2013a). Nevertheless, this cerebellar gain controller reaches the adequate state through the learning process. This involves a time period in which the control action is not delivered properly which make the system prone to become unstable. The cerebellum, during this learning process, shall be able to supply enough control action to avoid these possible destabilization inconveniences. Furthermore, the feedback action in cerebellar motor control is indeed well accepted (Kawato and Gomi, 1992;Stroeve, 1997;Desmurget and Grafton, 2000;Kalveram et al., 2005) and there also exist neurophysiologic evidences suggesting that the primary motor cortex is involved in this feedback loop (Sergio et al., 2005). Concretely, there is a dense projection from primary motor cortex to the spinal cord, often directly onto motor neurons, and correlations between primary motor cortex activity and end-effector kinematics (Todorov, 2000). Hence, proprioceptive signals encoding for instance position error information (inputs) are put in relation with the corrective cerebellar output, thus leading one to believe that the IO-DCN connection might implement this loop.
Historically, cognitive psychology was unified by an approach based on an resemblance between the mind and a computer, (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). Cognitive neuroscientists argue convincingly that we need to study the brain while people engage in cognitive tasks. Clearly, the internal processes involved in human cognition occur in the brain, and several sophisticated ways of studying the brain in action, including various imaging techniques, now exist, (Sternberg and Wagner, 1999, page 34).Neuroscience studies how the activity of the brain is correlated with cognitive operations, (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). On the other hand, cognitive neuropsychologists believe that we can draw general conclusions about the way in which the intact mind and brain work from mainly studying the behaviour of neurological patients rather than their physiology, (McCarthy and Warrington, 1990).
Long term issues in the cerebellum would be a sizable portion of loss in motor coordination. As for the
The dorsal portion of the diencephalon comprises three major parts: the epithalamus, the dorsal thalamus (known as the motor thalamus), and the ventral thalamus. The epithalamus consists of the pineal body, the habenular nuclei, the stria medullaris, and the associated paraventricular nuclei. All of these nuclei play key roles in limbic functions. The dorsal and ventral thalamus comprises many nuclear groups that receive inputs from several brain structures and transmits afferent signals to specific areas of the cerebral cortex, except for the RTN which projects only to other thalamic nuclei and brainstem {Jones, 2002, Thalamic organization and function after Cajal;Jones, 2007, The Thalamus}. In general, most thalamic nuclei can be classified
The premotor cortex (Brodmann’s Area 6) is located in the frontal cortex of the primate brain and lies anterior to the central sulcus and the primary motor cortex (M1) with the overarching functions of planning possible movement trajectories, spatial and sensory guidance of movements, as well as comprehending the actions of others. The premotor cortex receives afferent and sends efferent signals to the primary motor cortex, prefrontal cortex, and parietal cortex. In addition, it also sends projections to the spinal cord, making up a portion of the corticospinal tract, as well as to the striatum and thalamus in the brain (Purves & Williams, 2001). The premotor cortex can be divided into both medial-lateral functional divisions and the lateral premotor cortex can be subdivided into ventral-dorsal areas. The majority of the lateral premotor cortex is dedicated to understanding guided movements whereas the medial portion of the premotor cortex is focused on internal, self-initiated movements (Purves & Williams, 2001). While both the ventral and dorsal premotor cortices are active directly prior to a goal-oriented movement, they both respond to particular stimuli. For example, the ventral premotor cortex (PMv) receives a variety of visual and somatosensory inputs and is implicated in decision-making of the best movement, and it is also selectively activated to
The left brain or the left cerebral hemisphere is the side of the brain that is logical. It controls speech, language and analyzes all incoming information Cherry (2013). These patients has the ability to recognize people names rather than faces Cherry (2013). The left hemisphere usually has preemptive control over the main stream of the body activity (Newman, Banks, & Baars (2003 pg. 838)). The Left cerebral hemisphere is superior to complex language and expres...
Motor movement development has been a topic of controversy for the last century. The feud began in 1906 when Sir Charles Sherrington published The Integrative Action of the Nervous System. The work summarizes over two decades of research, revealing many fundamentals of neural science for the very first time (Burke, 2007). He was not only the first to suggest that the nervous system was a complex network of separate neurons, coining the term ‘synapse’, but he also was the first to discuss reflex arcs in detail. Although his work is noted for its advances in the field, some of Sherrington’s ideas were far-fetched; including his belief that complex behavior could be explained through the combination of individual reflex actions intertwined (Sherrington,
Cerebellar degeneration is a process in which neurons in the cerebellum (the area of the brain that controls coordination and balance) deteriorate and die. Diseases that causes cerebellar degeneration can also involve other areas of the Central Nervous System. Cerebellar degeneration may be the result of inherited genetic mutations that alter the normal production of specific proteins that are necessary for the survival of neurons.
Firstly, there is various of sensing activities as in seeing and hearing as in a sense of understanding of what is seen and heard. Secondly the sense of feeling in numerous parts of the body from the head to the toes. The ability to recall past events, the sophisticated emotions and the thinking process. The cerebellum acts as a physiological microcomputer which intercepts various sensory and motor nerves to smooth out what would otherwise be jerky muscle motions. The medulla controls the elementary functions responsible for life, such as breathing, cardiac rate and kidney functions. The medulla contains numerous of timing mechanisms as well as other interconnections that control swallowing and salivations.
The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain. It contains all the tools that are responsible the majority of the brains functions. The cerebrum is split up into four sections: frontal lobe, occiptal lobe and pariental lobe. The cerebrum has two sections the right and the left hemisphere that are connected by axons that send messages to and from one another. The matter in this part is made up of cells that carry signals between the nerve cells and the organs that run through the