Cerebellar contribution to feedforward control of locomotion

• Published in: Frontiers in human neuroscience Vol. 8; p. 475
• Main Authors: Pisotta, Iolanda, Molinari, Marco
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Research Foundation 25-06-2014; Frontiers Media S.A
• Subjects: Activity patterns; Adaptation; Ataxia; Central nervous system; Cerebellum; Cerebral cortex; Cognitive ability; cortico-cerebellar loops; feed-forward control; Feedback; Fitness equipment; Gait; Hypotheses; Locomotion; Memory; movements prediction; Neuroscience; Sensorimotor system; sequencing hypothesis; Temporal cortex; Walking; corticocerebellar loops; movement prediction; feedforward control; sequencing hypothesis; locomotion
• ISSN: 1662-5161; 1662-5161
• DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00475

The cerebellum is an important contributor to feedforward control mechanisms of the central nervous system, and sequencing-the process that allows spatial and temporal relationships between events to be recognized-has been implicated as the fundamental cerebellar mode of operation. By adopting such a mode and because cerebellar activity patterns are sensitive to a variety of sensorimotor-related tasks, the cerebellum is believed to support motor and cognitive functions that are encoded in the frontal and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex. In this model, the cerebellum is hypothesized to make predictions about the consequences of a motor or cognitive command that originates from the cortex to prepare the entire system to cope with ongoing changes. In this framework, cerebellar predictive mechanisms for locomotion are addressed, focusing on sensorial and motoric sequencing. The hypothesis that sequence recognition is the mechanism by which the cerebellum functions in gait control is presented and discussed.