original version of this story Appeared in Quanta Magazine.
Although neuroscience has made incredible advances in recent decades, important parts of the brain remain mysterious. I’m talking about the cerebellum. The name means “little brain” in Latin, and it is located like a loaf of bread at the back of the brain. This is no small oversight. The cerebellum contains three-quarters of all neurons in the brain, and they are organized in an almost crystalline structure, in contrast to the tangled clumps of neurons found elsewhere.
encyclopedia article And textbooks emphasize the fact that the function of the cerebellum is to control body movements. There is no doubt that the cerebellum has this function. But scientists now suspect that this long-held view may be short-sighted.
Well, I was in Washington DC in November. Neuroscience Society Annual Meeting, the world’s largest conference of neuroscientists.Therefore, two neuroscientists organized symposium Research on newly discovered functions of the cerebellum that are unrelated to motor control. New experimental techniques show that in addition to controlling movement, the cerebellum regulates complex behavior, social interactions, aggression, working memory, learning, emotion, and more.
cracks in the dominant wisdom
The relationship between the cerebellum and movement has been known since the 19th century. Patients with trauma to brain regions have obvious difficulties with balance and movement, and there is no doubt that balance and movement are important for coordinating movement. For decades, neuroscientists have developed a detailed understanding of how the cerebellum’s unique neural circuits control motor function. The explanation of how the cerebellum works seemed perfect.
and in a magazine in 1998. braina neurologist reported: Widespread emotional and cognitive impairment Patients with damage to the cerebellum. For example, in 1991 she was a 22-year-old college student who fell while ice skating. A CT scan revealed a tumor in the cerebellum. After it was surgically removed, she was a completely different person. This bright college girl could no longer write proficiently, do mental arithmetic, name common objects, or copy simple diagrams. Her mood became flat. She hid in the shadows and acted inappropriately in her hallway, including taking off her clothes and speaking in baby talk. Her social interactions, such as recognizing her familiar faces, were also impaired.
This incident and similar incidents puzzled the authors. These advanced cognitive and emotional functions are understood to reside in the cerebral cortex and limbic system. “What exactly the cerebellum’s role is and how it accomplishes it remains to be established,” they concluded.
Despite these clues from clinical studies that conventional wisdom is misguided, leading authorities still maintained that the function of the cerebellum is to control movement and nothing more. “It’s a little sad because it’s been 20 years since these incidents were reported,” he said. Diacino Fioravantea neurophysiologist at the University of California, Davis, co-organized the conference symposium.
Other neurologists had long been aware of the patient’s neuropsychiatric disorder, the neuroscientist said. Stephanie Rudolph He is a professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and co-sponsored the symposium with Fioravante. However, clinical reports were ignored because there was no solid anatomical evidence of how the cerebellum’s unique neural circuits could modulate the reported psychological and emotional functions.
