Cerebellar Functional Anatomy: a Didactic Summary Based on Human fMRI Evidence

Cerebellum. 2020 Feb;19(1):1-5. doi: 10.1007/s12311-019-01083-9.

Abstract

The cerebellum is relevant for virtually all aspects of behavior in health and disease. Cerebellar findings are common across all kinds of neuroimaging studies of brain function and dysfunction. A large and expanding body of literature mapping motor and non-motor functions in the healthy human cerebellar cortex using fMRI has served as a tool for interpreting these findings. For example, results of cerebellar atrophy in Alzheimer's disease in caudal aspects of Crus I/II and medial lobule IX can be interpreted by consulting a large number of task, resting-state, and gradient-based reports that describe the functional characteristics of these specific aspects of the cerebellar cortex. Here, we provide a concise summary that outlines organizational principles observed consistently across these studies of normal cerebellar organization. This basic framework may be useful for investigators performing or reading experiments that require a functional interpretation of human cerebellar topography.

Publication types

  • Editorial

MeSH terms

  • Cerebellar Cortex / anatomy & histology*
  • Cerebellar Cortex / diagnostic imaging*
  • Cerebellar Diseases / diagnostic imaging
  • Cerebellum / anatomy & histology
  • Cerebellum / diagnostic imaging
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Nerve Net / anatomy & histology
  • Nerve Net / diagnostic imaging