1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great reference for cerebellar functioning, October 10, 2011
This review is from: The Cerebellum and Adaptive Control (Paperback)
I chose to purchase and read this book not only because I find the subject matter generally interesting, but because I needed it as a reference for an assignment during my Neuroscience class. Though it was published in 2002, I feel it serves as a great compilation of cerebellar research from the field. Overall it was a very informative, well structured read; I would highly recommend it to a peer interested in the fundamentals of cerebellar motor control.
Summary of Contents:
The book is divided into four sections, each of which contain six chapters of related material. The first section deals with the anatomy and physiology of the cerebellum, covering the evolution of the organ from its primitive beginnings in invertebrates, to its classical confirmation in fish, amphibians and birds, and eventually leads to the complex structure found in great apes. Regions of the cortex and vermis are represented in their own chapter, with great emphasis on the varying cell types found in these regions, such as Purkinje, granule and golgi cells, just to name a few. There is a chapter devoted entirely to the mossy fiber afferent system, including various sources of fibers including the reticular tegmental ponine nucleus, the lateral reticular nucleus and the paramedian reticular nucleus, all described by location and function. Another chapter in this section catalogs findings pertaining to the inferior olivary system and climbing fibers. It gives a helpful schematic of the lamellar and zonal distribution of olivary afferents and efferents, as well as explaining in detail the roles of serotonin and cell-cell interactions of the olivary system. The final chapter in the anatomy and physiology section discusses cerebellar nuclei and their role in voluntary motor learning via efferent pathways. It gives an extensive overview of contrasting fiber types and how they differ between species.
In the second portion of the book, the authors compile data related to cerebellar function by speaking about cerebellar memory, the vestibulocerebellum and oculomotor systems, and cognition. The first segment deals with cerebellar plasticity involving such tasks as throwing darts before and after wearing prism spectacles and how activities such as these are related to long term and short term synaptic depression. This serves as an excellent source for data on the effects of long and short term depression and potentiation in all regions of the cerebellum. Functions and characteristics of the vestibulocerebellum and the oculomotor system are described next, including a fascinating study involving tracing the eye movements of monkeys over complex trajectories and the generation of pursuit eye movements in mammals. Perhaps the most interesting of chapters in this section is the discussion about cognition. The authors speak about a study involving a patient with damage to the vermis and anterior lobe of the cerebellum, who displayed impairments in planning, abstract reasoning, working memory, determining appropriate behavior and language deficits. They proposed that a disruption of cerebellar modulation of neural circuits linking the prefrontal, posterior parietal, parts of the temporal and limbic cortices with the cerebellum had occurred, thus explaining the patients list of severe symptoms. This section also highlights techniques used to capture motor learning, including studies involving MRI, SPECT, fMRI, and PET scans. Timing functions and conditioned eyeblink reflex is described next in the chapter on timing and classical and instrumental conditioning. A chapter on cerebellar disease such as hypotonia, ataxia, and disorders involving equilibrium and gait follows and provides interesting case studies and diagrams for the reader.
The next major section of this book deals with models and theories regarding cerebellar motor control. These include nonadaptive theories like Braitenber's timing-organ hypothesis, and tidal wave hypothesis, and Eccles' Purkinje-cell readout hypothesis and dynamic loop hypothesis, along with a score of others. Following these discussions, models of neural networks and adaptive control are described. This chapter covers nuclear complexes of the cerebral cortex, the dorsal spinocerebellar tract, the olivo-cerebellum and those involved in the generation of timed responses. Adaptive control models are then compared to adaptive signal processing in internal and forward models. This section of the book was quite interesting; the authors did a nice job presenting all working theories regarding adaptive control.
The last chapter in the book gives a brief history on the cerebellum as an adaptive controller, citing articles from the 1960s and comparing them to what is now known about major regions of the structure. They do a similar comparison with previous studies of the vestibul-ocular reflex, which is considered the most straightforward manifestation of an adaptive controller in the cerebellum. Optokinetic reflexes and smooth pursuit eye movements are then discussed, followed by a discussion on the the uniformity and major input systems of the cerebellar cortex. The authors then pose several questions that are of interest to current neuroscience research. They conclude inquiries on the storage of movement commands and plasticity of Purkinje dendrites in neuronal networks.
The author summarizes the major adaptive controllers of the cerebellum and what is known of their current functions in the concluding message. I found it most helpful as a reiteration of points previously mentioned. They divide the cerebellum into three major parts: the vestivulocerebellum, spinocerebellum and the cerebrocerebllum. "The vestivulocerebellum is considered a well established adaptive controller; the spinocerebellum plays a highly probable role, but the evaluation of error signal is still unknown; the cerebrocerebellum is mostly thought to be involved in cognitive activity" (pg. 291).
Summary of Opinions/ Recommendations:
Overall, I consider this book an adequate reference for all things related to the cerebellum and motor control. This book is a compilation of evidences that focus on how the vertebrate brain makes smooth muscle coordination possible. It reinforces the understanding that the cerebellum automatically adjusts its output depending on the fitness or weakness of muscle. The four parts of this book-- cerebellar anatomy and physiology, function, models and theories, and conclusions, not only provide excellent scientific findings, but also are made medically relevant by the authors. As the author's note states, I think this book would be quite useful for researchers, undergraduates, or graduate students in physiology, neuroscience, or electrical or chemical engineering. It's publication date is a small hindrance on the suitability of this text as a scientific reference, but I would still recommend it for a student interested in how the cerebellum works as an adaptive controller.
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