Task 3 Flashcards
What is the main function of the Cerebellum when talking about “motor errors”?
The cerebellum compares the intended movement with the actual movement and can if necessary make corrections.
How do we call the most medial part of the cerebellum?
Vermis
Name the three main subdivisions of the cerebellar hemispheres
Cerebrocerebellum
Spinocerebellum
Vestibulocerebellum
Which subpart of the cerebellum is the largest?
Cerebrocerebellum
For which muscles is the Vermis important?
Proximal and eye muscles
The cerebellum receives direct input from the spinal cord, which enters the cerebellum at the…
Spinocerebellum
Which part of the cerebellum is the oldest and occupied with posture and equilibrium?
Vestibulocerebellum
The vestibulocerebellum can be further subdivided into:
Flocculus (ends) & Nodulus (connecting point)
The name for a very large pathway is:
Peduncle
How many cerebellar peduncles are there? Give their names.
3:
Superior, Middle and Inferior Cerebellar Peduncle
What does the pontine nucleus relay to the cerebellum?
Visual input
Which of the Peduncles is special in the sense that it stays ipsilateral?
The inferior peduncle
What is a difference in the way how visual information vs sensory information travels to the cerebellum?
Sensory information (Vestibular and Spinal inputs): Ipsilateral Visual information: Contralateral
What can be said about the topography in the cerebellum?
Its map is fractured: Every area of the body is represented multiple times by separated clusters, rather than in a single continuous map.
Describe a loop starting in the dentate nucleus of the cerebellum, which is important for adaptive functions.
Dentate Nucleus -> Superior Peduncle -> Red Nucleus -> Inferior Olives -> Cerebellum
-> Feedback loop
When regions of the cerebellum send projections via the Thalamus back to the cortical regions, where the input came from, we call this:
A closed loop
What is meant by the term “open loop”?
When the cerebellum receives input from multiple cortical areas and gives output to upper motor neurons in area 4 and 6
The Cerebellar Cortex gives descending output to the ____ and directly to the ____ .
Deep Cerebellar Nuclei; Vestibular Nuclei
What are the three layers of the Cerebellar cortex?
Molecular
Purkinje
Granule
What is a major relay station of neurons coming from the neocortex, travelling to the cerebellar cortex?
The Pontine Nuclei
From which type of cell do parallel fibers originate?
Granule Cells
Cells coming from the brainstem or pontine nuclei, and synapsing with granule cells and deep cerebellar nuclei, are called…?
Mossy Fibers
What is the gist of the Marr-Albus Theory?
There is plasticity at the parallel fiber synapse with the purkinje cell, if it is active at the same time as the climbing fiber input into the purkinje cell.
What kind of signal do the climbing fibers convey to the purkinje cell?
Error signals
What is an argument that supports the theory of neural models?
As negative feedback control is slow, many movements have to be preprogrammed.
What is reafference in the context of forward neural models?
Transforming a set of motor commands into a prediction of their outcome, represented as the sensory stimulation, which the movement will generate.
Describe the experiment that supports the theory of forward models.
- > Cats were trained to track movements of an object with the paw
- > Object was covered
- > Purkinje cells predicted the expected sensory feedback of the movement of reaching out, even when the object was covered.
Which neurotransmitters play a major role in basal-ganglia functioning?
Dopamine and GABA
What is the main job of the middle peduncle?
It carries input signals from the cerebrum to the cerebellum, with information about voluntary movements.
Is the superior cerebellar peduncle mainly output or input?
output
How does information about proprioception of our limbs get into the cerebellum?
Via the inferior peduncle
What kind of information do mossy fibers convey?
Sensory information and information about muscle states.
What kind of fibers connect the inferior olives with the purkinje cells?
Climbing Fibers
Parallel fibers are parallel axons of which kind of cells?
Granule Cells
What is the name of a very important nucleus in the cerebellum, when it comes to regulating in- and output?
The Dentate Nucleus
