The Cerebellum’s main function is coordinating movement
It stores and organizes a great amount of sensory and motor information to help influence cognitive and motor function
Here are 5 functional relationships of the cerebellum⬇️⬇️
1) Feedback Mechanism
During this feedback process, the plan for the movement is compared with the sensory and proprioception info of the actual movement allowing for correction
Feedback doesn’t require learning which means it’s slow & can only correct, but not predict errors
2) Feedforward System
This system relies on learning from previous experiences to quickly predict & prevent errors before they happen
It is the anticipation system that not only corrects ongoing movement, but also calculates movements of those around. This is important in sport
3) Vestibulocerebellar connections
The oldest part of the cerebellum, also known as the archicerebellum
The vestibular nuclei send input to the cerebellum to relay info about balance & the position of the head in space & also helps with orienting eye movements
4) Spinocerebellar connections
Also known as the paleocerebellum
Proprioceptive info from muscle spindles and GTOs sends the “copy” of motor info to the spinocerebellum
Posture of the trunk & limb movement (in gait) are then coordinated through the spinocerebellar loop
5) Cerebrocerebellar connections
Newest structure, also known as neocerebellum
Connections to the thalamus & cerebral cortex allow the cerebellum to coordinate motor output
*Important for hand-eye coordination- uses visual input & calculates movement needed to reach target
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