How the cerebellum controls movement
The cerebellum is a region of the brain that controls motor functions by helping to coordinate signals from the brain, nervous system and muscles. Less known is that the cerebellum interacts with other areas of the brain to also control cognitive and behavioural tasks. The EU-funded CERVISO (Cerebellum in visualspatial orientation) initiative studied the cerebellum's role in both motor and non-motor functions. These include processing information from vision, integrating sensory input with motor skills, and other tasks like attention, planning, memory and decision-making. Researchers did this by studying rapid eye movements and fixed gaze in both normal subjects and patients with cerebellar damage when given visual tasks. Impaired motor coordination can result in abnormal eye movements and an inability to fixate on a target. Extracting data from the gaze of normal subjects and patients during such visual exploration tasks allowed researchers to develop a model of cerebellar motor function. This helped them to understand how the cerebellum interacts with other brain areas to drive eye movements. In particular, the data from patients with rare neurodegenerative and genetic diseases will prove useful for studying certain cerebellar dysfunctions. CERVISO outcomes will help neuroscientists understand how the brain gives us visual-spatial awareness that allows us to interact with our environment. They will also help to diagnose cerebellar dysfunctions and to develop rehabilitation programmes.
