Cerebellum contains more than 50% of the brain’s neurons yet accounts for only 10% of the total brain volume. It has been always assumed that it is required to maintain balance and control breathing and cerebrum contains regions which are responsible for all the complex activities like thinking and planning. But neuroscientists have recently discovered that cerebellum plays an important role in reward response.
For centuries, cerebellum has been linked with motor skills and sensory inputs, but this study identifies new exciting function of granule cells of the cerebellum. There have been speculations in the field about cerebellum’s connections to cognitive processes like attention and language processing However, earlier studies have never been able to link them to primary sensory and motor functions. The study was done using two-photon calcium imaging to monitor activity of neurons…
