title: Does the cerebellum initiate movement?
abstract: Opinion is divided on what the exact function of the cerebellum is. Experiments are summarized that support the following views: (1) the cerebellum is a combiner of multiple movement factors; (2) it contains anatomically fixed permanent focal representation of individual body parts (muscles and segments) and movement modes (e.g., vestibular driven vs. cognitive driven); (3) it contains flexible changing representations/memory of physical properties of the body parts including muscle strength, segment inertia, joint viscosity, and segmental interaction torques (dynamics); (4) it contains mechanisms for learning and storage of the properties in item no. 3 through trial-and-error practice; (5) it provides for linkage of body parts, motor modes, and motordynamics via the parallel fiber system; (6) it combines and integrates the many factors so as to initiate coordinated movements of the many body parts; (7) it is thus enabled to play the unique role of initiating coordinated movements; and (8) this unique causative role is evidenced by the fact that: (a) electrical stimulation of the cerebellum can initiate compound coordinated movements; (b) in naturally initiated compound movements, cerebellar discharge precedes that in downstream target structures such as motor cerebral cortex; and (c) cerebellar ablation abolishes the natural production of compound movements in the awake alert individuals.
authors: Departments of Neurobiology,, Washington University School Of Medicine, St Louis, MO, 63110, USA, thachw@pcg.wustl.edu.
authors: W T
authors: WT
authors: Thach
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology
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