Frontocerebellar connectivity: climbing through the inferior olive

Eduardo Dias-Ferreira

doi:10.3389/fnins.2010.00037

Abstract

Frontocerebellar connectivity: climbing through the inferior olive

Highlights

Is there a role of cerebellum beyond motor control? Neuroanatomical studies in nonhuman primates have shown connections between the cerebellum and non-motor cortical areas of the frontal lobe (Strick et al, 2009)
Even more interesting was the observation of features typical of climbing fiber field potentials, further confirmed by an increased probability of complex spike activity in single unit Purkinje cells of vermal lobule VII following PrL stimulation
The largest field potentials evoked by M2 stimulation were located in vermal lobe VII, and seemed to present the same features of climbing fiber field potentials

Summary

Introduction

Is there a role of cerebellum beyond motor control? Neuroanatomical studies in nonhuman primates have shown connections between the cerebellum and non-motor cortical areas of the frontal lobe (Strick et al, 2009). In a new study, Watson et al (2009) put forward the existence of two distinct frontocerebellar pathways: one from the prelimbic (PrL) sub-region of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and other from the premotor cortex (M2), projecting through the inferior olive before terminating in common climbing fibers in the contralateral vermis of lobule VII.

Results

Conclusion