R6 Questions Flashcards
Since the 1970’s, the primary function of the cerebellum has been thought to be:
motor control
The surface area of the cerebellum is (larger/smaller) than the cerebral cortex.
smaller
The cerebellum contains (more/less) neurons than the cerebral cortex.
more
The pattern of wiring of the neurons in the cerebellum is (similar to/different from) the pattern of wiring in lesser-evolved animals.
similar to
One of the first suggestions about the function of the cerebellum in humans came during the early 20th century. What was the nature of the evidence?
During WWI, soldiers who suffered from gunshot wounds to the cerebellum were said to have lack of motor coordination. This furthered the hypothesis that damage to the cerebellum would result in major difficulties in organizing movement.
The authors use the tactile senses to investigate the role of the cerebellum in detail. They find a topographic map of tactile stimulation in the cerebellum (True/False).
False
According to these authors, what do the forepaws of a cat, the mouth of a rat and the fingers of a monkey have in common?
Each structure of those animals is used to investigate and learn from the environment through tactile perception or touch.
Ultimately, one hypothesis that these authors espouse is that an important function of the cerebellum is to coordinate the ________of sensory information.
Brain’s acquisition (collection)
What is the generalized “timing hypothesis” of cerebellum function?
The cerebellum essentially controls the overall timing of body movements, meaning the coordination of changes in joint angles.
Why is it difficult to answer the following question, “How important is the cerebellum?”
Not important: removal in younger people causes brain to easily compensate
Important: stuff not helping you survive will make it go down in size; persistent through evolution, gotten bigger in size, and wiring hasn’t changed, which makes better chance of surviving with it than without it
