Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Does the nervous system use equilibrium-point control to guide single and multiple joint movements?
- 2 Does the nervous system depend on kinesthetic information to control natural limb movements?
- 3 Can sense be made of spinal interneuron circuits?
- 4 Implications of neural networks for how we think about brain function
- 5 Do cortical and basal ganglionic motor areas use “motor programs” to control movement?
- 6 Functional heterogeneity with structural homogeneity: How does the cerebellum operate?
- 7 Are movement parameters recognizably coded in the activity of single neurons?
- 8 The representation of egocentric space in the posterior parietal cortex
- Open Peer Commentary and Authors' Responses
- References
- Index
6 - Functional heterogeneity with structural homogeneity: How does the cerebellum operate?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Does the nervous system use equilibrium-point control to guide single and multiple joint movements?
- 2 Does the nervous system depend on kinesthetic information to control natural limb movements?
- 3 Can sense be made of spinal interneuron circuits?
- 4 Implications of neural networks for how we think about brain function
- 5 Do cortical and basal ganglionic motor areas use “motor programs” to control movement?
- 6 Functional heterogeneity with structural homogeneity: How does the cerebellum operate?
- 7 Are movement parameters recognizably coded in the activity of single neurons?
- 8 The representation of egocentric space in the posterior parietal cortex
- Open Peer Commentary and Authors' Responses
- References
- Index
Summary
Abstract: The premise explored in this target article is that the function of the cerebellum is best understood in terms of the operation it performs across its structurally homogeneous subdivisions. The functional heterogeneity sometimes ascribed to these different regions reflects the multiplicity of functions subserved by the central targets receiving the outputs of different cerebellar regions. Recent studies from our own laboratory and others suggest that the functional unit of the cerebellum is the sagittal zone. It is hypothesized that the climbing fiber system produces a short-lasting modification in the gain of Purkinje cell responses to its other principal afferent input, the mossy fiber-granule cell-parallel fiber system. Because the climbing fiber inputs to sagittally aligned Purkinje cells can be activated under functionally specific conditions, these afferents could select populations of Purkinje neurons that would be most highly modulated by mossy fiber inputs responding to the same conditions. These operations may be critical for the on-line integration of inputs characterizing external target space with features of the intended movement, proprioceptive and kinesthetic cues, and the body image.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Movement Control , pp. 64 - 76Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1994
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