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cerebellum

·July 11, 2024·4 min read

Cerebellum Controls Thirst, Not Just Motor Functions

A new study reveals the cerebellum's role in controlling thirst, expanding its known functions beyond motor control. Researchers discovered that the hormone asprosin activates Purkinje neurons in the cerebellum, driving the urge to drink water. This finding could lead to new treatments for thirst disorders. The study highlights the cerebellum's broader impact on essential survival functions.

Featured Neuroscience

·April 4, 2024·5 min read

Cerebellum Plays A Key Role in Reward Learning

Researchers discovered the cerebellum's significant involvement in reward-based learning, challenging longstanding views of its function. By training monkeys to associate visual cues with hand movements for rewards, the study demonstrates that the cerebellum is essential for forming new visuomotor associations, not just controlling movement.

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·April 2, 2024·6 min read

Zombie Neurons: Unlocking the Cerebellum’s Learning Secrets

Researchers have identified "zombie neurons" in the cerebellum that offer new insights into how this brain region facilitates learning through past experiences. Utilizing optogenetics, the team manipulated cerebellar inputs, specifically climbing fibres, to demonstrate their pivotal role in associative learning processes, such as the conditioned blinking response in mice.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·January 10, 2024·5 min read

Link Between Smaller Cerebellum and PTSD

New research uncovered a significant association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and a reduction in cerebellar volume. This study, one of the largest of its kind, demonstrates that individuals with PTSD have cerebellums that are approximately 2% smaller than those without the disorder.

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·December 5, 2023·4 min read

Cerebellar Glia Influence Aggression Level

Interactions between neurons and glial cells in the cerebellum significantly influence aggression levels in mice. This study highlights the role of the cerebellum, specifically the Bergmann glial cells in the cerebellar vermis, in regulating aggression.

This shows a brain that looks like a tree.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 29, 2023·5 min read

The Cerebellum’s Role in Human Cognitive Evolution

New research reveals the cerebellum's significant role in the evolution of human cognitive functions. The study mapped the genetic development of cerebellar cells in humans, mice, and opossums, uncovering both ancestral and unique cellular characteristics.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 10, 2023·4 min read

Fitness Shapes Teen Brains

A novel study finds a link between childhood physical fitness and cerebellar grey matter volume in adolescents. The research, part of the FitBrain study, shows that adolescents with better neuromuscular fitness had larger Crus I grey matter volumes, important for cognition and learning. However, the study also found that better cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with smaller overall cerebellar volume, with gender-specific differences noted.

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·November 6, 2023·3 min read

The Cerebellum is Key to Unlocking Social Memory Woes

Researchers made a pivotal discovery about the cerebellum's role in social recognition memory, potentially revolutionizing treatment for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. By modulating cerebellar activity in preclinical models, they found it crucial for retrieving social information, a function often deteriorating in dementia patients.

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·May 15, 2023·7 min read

Two Types of Neurons in Cerebellum Influence Motor and Social Behaviors

Researchers reveal distinct roles for two types of neurons in the cerebellum. The study offers compelling in vivo evidence that a specific group of excitatory glutamatergic neurons plays a key role in acquiring motor and sensory/emotional behaviors.

This shows a brain with the areas mentioned in the study highlighted

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·April 17, 2023·5 min read

How Music Can Prevent Cognitive Decline

Listening to or practicing music had positive implications on cognitive decline in older adults by stimulating the production of gray matter in key brain areas, a new study reveals.

This shows the outline of a man and woman's heads and a heart

Featured Neuroscience

·February 14, 2023·3 min read

Explaining the Emerging Conceptual Framework of Neurosexuality

Neurosexuality is a conceptual framework that explores the relationship between sexual behavior and brain function. Researchers say the comprehensive framework could be applied to integrate sexual rehabilitation into treatment for those with neurological and sexual function disorders.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·February 13, 2023·4 min read

Changes in the Brain Responsible for Motor Skill Learning

As rat models became proficient at learning new motor skills, they developed synchronous low-frequency oscillatory activity in two brain areas that were recorded that emerged across the cerebellum and motor cortex networks with skill consolidation.