Abstract
Making predictions and validating the predictions against actual sensory information is thought to be one of the most fundamental functions of the nervous system. A growing body of evidence shows that the neural mechanisms controlling behavior, both in motor and non-motor domains, rely on prediction errors, the discrepancy between predicted and actual information. The cerebellum has been viewed as a key component of the motor system providing predictions about upcoming movements and receiving feedback about motor errors. Consequentially, studies of cerebellar function have focused on the motor domain with less consideration for the wider context in which movements are generated. However, motor learning experiments show that cognition makes important contributions to motor adaptation that involves the cerebellum. One of the more successful theoretical frameworks for understanding motor control and cerebellar function is the forward internal model which states that the cerebellum predicts the sensory consequences of the motor commands and is involved in computing sensory prediction errors by comparing the predictions to the sensory feedback. The forward internal model was applied and tested mainly for effector movements, raising the question whether cerebellar encoding of behavior reflects task performance measures associated with cognitive involvement. Electrophysiological studies based on pseudo-random tracking in monkeys show that the discharge of Purkinje cell, the sole output neurons of the cerebellar cortex, encodes predictive and feedback signals not only of the effector kinematics but also of task performance. The implications are that the cerebellum implements both effector and task performance forward models and the latter are consistent with the cognitive contributions observed during motor learning. The implications of these findings include insights into recent psychophysical observations on moving with reduced feedback and motor learning. The findings also support the cerebellum’s place in hierarchical generative models that work in concert to refine predictions about behavior and the world. Therefore, cerebellar representations bridge motor and non-motor domains and provide a better understanding of cerebellar function within the functional architecture of the brain.
Introduction
Yogi Berra and Niels Bohr agreed: “Predictions are very hard, especially when they are about the future” (Stanislaw, 1976; Wilford, 1991). It turns out they could be ubiquitous throughout the brain too.
It has been hypothesized that central to brain function is learning to make predictions about behavior and the world. The use of predictions to control behavior relies on computing prediction errors, the differences between predictions and reality. Early on, motor control research strongly embraced the importance of generating predictions about upcoming movements using the framework of forward internal models of effectors. Recent work has emphasized that controlling and learning self-directed motor behaviors involves both an implicit forward model of the effector and an explicit model of the task (Taylor and Ivry, 2011; Streng et al., 2018b; see Figure 1F). Multiple forward models require a more nuanced view on the error sources. Further, self-directed motor behavior cannot be cleanly separated from the underlying cognitive context.
Figure 1
The cerebellum is an integral part of the motor control system and is thought to be geared to predicting aspects of upcoming motor behavior and involved in processing prediction errors. This review focuses on the cerebellum’s role in implementing forward internal models and examines whether the discharge of cerebellar neurons have the requisite predictive and feedback signals essential for generating prediction errors. Importantly, the review examines whether the signals encoded are restricted to information only about effectors or whether the signals include task-related information.
Predictive Prowess of the Motor System and Forward Internal Models
Motor behavior, being amenable to precise measurement and manipulation of well-defined parameters of movement, showcases the nervous system’s ability to anticipate motor outcomes over a wide range of behaviors and experimental conditions. For example, during a saccade there is neither visual nor proprioceptive sensory feedback (Keller and Robinson,
The ubiquitous predictions observed during motor psychophysical experiments have to be integrated into a wider range of control processes including compensating for the inherent delays in sensory feedback, countering sensory reafferent signals, state estimation, and motor learning. Internal models offer a widely accepted computational framework for these control requirements by providing neural representations of the input-output relationships or their inverses for specific elements of the motor plant or properties of the environment to be controlled (Kawato,
Cerebellum as a Forward Internal Model
Many investigators have hypothesized that internal models of the motor system, in general, and forward models, specifically, are acquired and maintained in the cerebellum (Miall et al.,
In healthy subjects, functional imaging reveals changes in cerebellar activation following motor learning, further supporting the postulate that the cerebellum is the locus for the acquisition and storage of internal models of the musculoskeletal system (Shadmehr and Holcomb, 1997; Imamizu et al.,
Implicit and Explicit Contributions to Motor Learning
Explicit or declarative information processing occurs under conscious control, for example following a verbal instruction on how to execute a motor task. Implicit or procedural information processing is automatic and manifest in skill performance, such as experience driven improvement in motor output (Haith and Krakauer,
An elegant experiment successfully decoupled the contributions of implicit and explicit processes on motor learning. In a reaching task the visual feedback was perturbed by introducing a constant angular rotation between the hand and cursor positions. In the second trial after introducing this visuomotor rotation, the subjects were instructed to change the aim of the movement to compensate for the visual perturbation. This explicit strategy immediately restored task performance by minimizing the end-point errors, defined as the angular distance between target and cursor. However, in subsequent trials end-point errors gradually increased, reflecting the normal motor adaptation that occurs during visuomotor rotation (Mazzoni and Krakauer,
This unexpected result challenged the canonical view of motor learning and required a closer look at motor errors. Implicit sensory prediction errors, defined as the difference between the forward model predictions of the kinematics of the arm and the corresponding sensory feedback and, measured in this experiment as the difference between direction of arm movement and direction of cursor movement, are maximal in early perturbed trials. In contrast, end-point error is minimal because the explicit strategy counteracts the perturbation. The findings demonstrate that sensory prediction errors computed in effector-related space drive implicit motor adaptation, as predicted by the forward internal model hypothesis and that implicit learning occurs relatively independently from task performance, as defined by the end-point errors. Conversely, a task performance measure is computed in a task-related space and reflects both the kinematic sensory prediction errors and the explicit strategy. The results establish a functional segregation between an effector-related domain involved in implicit processes and a task-related domain related to explicit strategies. However, when adaptation is allowed to progress over a large number of trials, task performance errors plateau and then decrease (Taylor and Ivry, 2011; Figure 1C). This non-monotonic distribution of task performance allows for several possible explanations. One would be that subjects decide to disregard the instructions received. This would result in abrupt changes in task performance unlike the gradual recovery of the end-point errors observed. A model that fits the data adds to the implicit learning driven by kinematic error prediction, an explicit learning strategy driven by task performance. In this scenario, the implicit and explicit adaptation processes compensate each other to restore task accuracy.
To further elucidate the contribution of explicit strategies, in a series of newer studies of adaptation to visuomotor rotation, subjects were required to report their reach aim before movement in the absence of prior knowledge about the perturbation (Taylor et al., 2014; Bond and Taylor,
Information Processing in Cerebellar Neurons for Implicit and Explicit Forward Internal Models
Strong support for cerebellar involvement in forward models and in computing sensory prediction errors is emerging from studying the activity of cerebellar neurons. The output of a well-tuned forward model should be relatively insensitive to sensory reafferents due to self-generated movements, as the predictions should closely match the sensory feedback. Conversely, the output should be highly sensitive to passive movements or unexpected perturbations. During passive movement sensory feedback dominates in the absence of motor commands and during perturbations the model predictions predicted will be poorly matched with the actual feedback. These expectations for a forward internal model were successfully tested in the rostral fastigial nucleus. The discharge of these neurons have higher sensitivity to passive movements compared to comparable self-generated movements (Brooks and Cullen,
What about the discharge of Purkinje neurons, the final stage in the information processing of the cerebellar cortex and the only output? Within the framework of the forward internal model hypothesis, we proposed that Purkinje cell firing represents both the predictions of the motor command consequences and the corresponding sensory feedback (Popa et al., 2013, 2016a). For an effector forward model, both the prediction and the sensory feedback are thought to be expressed in the effector kinematics space (Wolpert et al., 1995; Miall and Wolpert, 1996).
Purkinje cell simple spike (SS) discharge modulates with and is correlated to upcoming eye and arm kinematics in a variety of motor behaviors (for reviews, see Ebner and Pasalar,
A better understanding of the nature and temporal aspects of Purkinje cell representations requires a task that imposes robust and sustained online error processing and allows a decoupling of past and future states. These requirements were fulfilled by using a pseudo-random, manual tracking task (Hewitt et al.,
The utility of the pseudo-random tracking paradigm is best revealed by establishing the predictive and feedback encoding of kinematics by Purkinje cells (Popa et al., 2012, 2017). The predictive and feedback modulation is illustrated in the sequence of firing maps of SS modulation with velocity across a range of time shifts (i.e., τ-values) as shown in Figure 2A. In this example, SS firing relative to the mean firing precedes hand velocity, with higher firing in the lower left quadrant that reaches a maximum at a feedforward timing of −120 ms. At feedback lag, a reciprocal SS modulation pattern emerges, with peak firing in the upper right quadrant at approximately 200 ms. Temporal linear regressions of the SS discharge with each behavioral parameter provide quantitative measures of the temporal relationship (τ-value) and the correlation strength (R2 and regression coefficient-β; Hewitt et al.,
Figure 2

Time course of the simple spike (SS) modulation with behavioral parameters during pseudo-random tracking. (A) Color coded maps of the SS firing, relative to the overall mean, for an example Purkinje cell in the velocity space (Vx, Vy) at different lead/lags (τ). Negative τ represents the firing leading velocity. (B) For the cell in (A), the R2 for Vx as a function of lead/lag (τ) reveals modulation at both feedforward and feedback timing. The red trace shows the mean of the control regressions computed on trial shuffled data (100 repetitions). The dashed red trace is the mean +3 SD of the control regressions. On the R2 temporal profiles asterisks (*) indicate the leads/lags of the corresponding SS firing maps in (A). (C) For the same neuron, the regression coefficients for Vx () are plotted as a function of τ. The sign change in represents the reversal in the firing sensitivity at feedforward lead compared to feedback lag. (D) SS firing maps of another example Purkinje cell with position error (XE, YE) at different leads/lags (τ). Target depicted by black circles. Same conventions as in (A). (E,F) For the cell in (D), the temporal profiles for the R2(E) and regression coefficients (βXE) for XE (F) exhibit predictive and feedback local maxima. βXE shows the reversal in the SS firing sensitivity at lead compared to lag timings (F). Conventions for red lines as in (B). Adapted with permission from Popa et al. (2016a).
Importantly, pseudo-random tracking provides additional insights into Purkinje cell representations. As the monkeys track the moving target, they attempt to maintain the cursor in the target center. The task also requires that the monkeys correct cursor excursions outside the target within 500 ms. This provides for several natural and continuous measures of performance errors including position error (components of the position error vector defined by the cursor and target center positions), radial error (magnitude of the position error vector) and direction error (angle between the current cursor position and the target center; Popa et al., 2012, 2017). The SS firing encodes these error parameters using bimodal, predictive-feedback representations. The firing maps of a Purkinje cell (Figure 2D) shows that the SS discharge leads position error from −300 ms to −100 ms, as the highest firing occurs in the lower left quadrant. The SS firing also lags position error from 300 ms to 500 ms when the highest firing occurs in the upper right quadrant. The R2 and β profiles (Figures 2E,F, respectively) for the x-component (XE) of position error have local maxima at −220 and 440 ms (Figures 2E,F; respectively). For a large majority of the Purkinje cells, the SS discharge signals at least one of these performance error parameters.
At the population level, the strength of performance error encoding is robust and comparable to the encoding of kinematics. Also, there is no segregation of Purkinje cells into error or kinematic subpopulations, showing that the integration of the task errors and kinematics occurs at the individual cell level (Popa et al., 2012). As mentioned before, the pseudo-random tracking task uncouples the past and future behavioral states, thus unveiling that the SS dual representations of individual error parameters, including a pair of predictive and feedback signals with opposing modulations, are ubiquitous in the Purkinje cells population (Popa et al., 2012). As these performance error signals are task-related and independent of kinematics, we interpret these modulation profiles as the feedforward and feedback elements computed by a forward internal model of a task specific, explicit strategy (Popa et al., 2013, 2014).
To establish that Purkinje cells provide the output of a forward internal model of performance errors it needs to be shown that the feedforward signals are the predicted consequences of the motor commands while the feedback signals reflect the sensory input. To test these requirements, Purkinje cell recordings during a modified pseudo-random tracking involving two perturbations of the visual feedback (Streng et al., 2018b). The first manipulation introduced delays between hand and cursor movements. If the feedforward modulation of position error is driven by the motor commands, the prediction will occur earlier relative to the cursor and the temporal shift should match the imposed delay. However, the feedback signal timing, being based on visual sensory input, will not be affected. The results confirmed these expectations, as shown for an example Purkinje cell in which the cursor delay shifts the predictive timing of the position error modulation, as determined by the local maxima in the R2 temporal profile, to more negative τ-values while the timing of the feedback modulation does not change (Figure 3A). The second manipulation hid the cursor while inside the target, thus reducing the visual feedback during task execution (Hidden cursor condition). The expectations were that the SS feedback modulation inside the target will be reduced as a result of reduced visual input, while the predictive modulation, driven by efferent copies of the motor command will not be affected. Again, the experimental findings confirmed the expectations based on a forward internal model of performance errors, with a decrease in the strength of the feedback encoding of position error but not the predictive encoding (Figure 3B). Moreover, the kinematic representations were not affected by either manipulation (Figures 3C,D), confirming the independence of the error and kinematic representations in the SS firing.
Figure 3

Effects of feedback manipulations on behavioral parameters encoding by SS discharge. (A) R2 temporal profiles for an example Purkinje cell SS firing regressed with position error during delay cursor delay (baseline—black trace, 200 ms delay—green trace). The predictive encoding shifts to more negative τ-values while the timing of the feedback modulation does not change. (B) R2 temporal profiles for an example Purkinje cell SS firing regressed with position error during the hidden cursor condition (baseline—black trace, hidden cursor—red trace). The reduction in visual feedback decreases the strength of the feedback encoding of position error but not the predictive encoding. (C) R2 temporal profiles for an example Purkinje cell SS firing regressed with velocity during cursor delay (baseline—black trace, 100 ms delay—green trace). (D) R2 temporal profiles for an example Purkinje cell SS firing regressed with velocity during the hidden cursor condition (baseline—black trace, hidden cursor—red trace). The kinematic representations are not changed by either manipulation of the visual feedback. Adapted with permission from Streng et al. (2018b).
The results described above focused on the SS activity centered on current movement (±500 ms). However, the pseudo-random tracking task also allowed a determination of the relation between Purkinje cell firing and the behavior over longer time intervals (Popa et al., 2017). Both kinematic and task performance parameters were found to be represented in the SS firing at leads and lags spanning 2,000 ms before to 2,000 ms after the movement. We refer to these extended predictive and feedback modulations as “long-range signals.” During tracking, these long-range signals allowed decoding of the individual behavioral parameters, kinematic and task performance, with remarkable accuracy, well above the random level. Moreover, during the periods preceding (Figures 4A,B) and following tracking (Figures 4C,D), when the monkeys were required to hold the cursor within a stationary target, the SS activity encoded expectations or memories of both kinematics and performance errors (Popa et al., 2017).
Figure 4

During hold periods SS firing correlates with movement parameters during track period. (A) SS firing (inset) during the initial hold period prior to tracking (gray shadow) from an example trial matched to position (specifically X-position) at τ values spanning 0 to −2,000 ms illustrated by the sliding window. Note that the window length is equal in duration to the initial hold period. Colored traces illustrate the X sliding window at different times: black (0 ms), pink (−500 ms), blue (−1,000 ms), green (−1,500 ms), and red (−2,000 ms). (B) For the SS discharge of this neuron, the R2 obtained from correlating firing rate with X-position across all trials is shown as a function of time (τ). The key observation is that the SS firing in the hold period encodes information about the upcoming position. (C) SS discharge rate (inset) during the final hold period (gray shadow) matched to position error (specifically YE) recorded in both track (gray) and final hold (black) periods using a sliding window of the same duration as the final hold period spanning from 0 to 2,000 ms. Colored traces illustrate the YE sliding window at different times: black (0 ms), pink (500 ms), blue (1,000 ms), green (1,500 ms), and red (2,000 ms). (D) For this Purkinje cell, plot of the R2 as a function of time (τ) from regressing SS with YE across all trials. Here the critical observation is that the firing in the hold period contains position error information about the just completed track period. Direction of recording time is indicated by bottom arrows in (A,C). For (B,D), conventions for the colored dots conventions are as in (A,C), respectively. Chance encoding (red traces) and conventions for τ values, as in Figure 2. Adapted with permission from Popa et al. (2017).
The long-range signals of effector states and task performance following a movement are consistent with a form of working memory that can bridge the inter-trial intervals as expected by the cerebellar involvement in generating the explicit strategy. The long-range predictive signals are consistent with planning and action expectations that could be used to seed the forward model acquisition. Long-range preparatory Purkinje cells activity could be used for evidence accumulation prior to movement, as observed in a task requiring mice to make a left-right decision (Deverett et al.,
Role for Complex Spikes in Predictions, Error Processing and Forward Models
One of the more prominent hypotheses of cerebellar function is that complex spikes (CSs) are the sole conduits of error information and those error signals drive motor learning (Marr,
CSs also convey parametric information related to movements contrasting with the error signaling hypothesis. For example, climbing fiber input modulates with eye and head movements induced by vestibulo-ocular rotation in the dark, when the retinal slip is absent (Winkelman et al., 2014), with movement kinematics during ocular pursuit (Kobayashi et al.,
Although typically thought to be primarily driven by feedback errors, during pseudo-random tracking, climbing fiber modulation leads both kinematics and performance errors (Streng et al., 2017). Furthermore, at the population level feedforward CS activity is more frequent than feedback modulation. Others have observed this predictive property, as CSs modulate with eye performance inferred errors (Frens et al.,
The roles played by climbing fiber input in motor learning and error signaling are under reconsideration (Catz et al.,
Implications for Cerebellum Providing Both Implicit and Explicit Models
The encoding of kinematic and performance errors in the discharge of Purkinje cells supports the simultaneous presence of cerebellar effector and task-specific forward models. When visual feedback was disrupted, the predictive and feedback SS modulations are mismatched (Streng et al., 2018b). However, the animals can still perform the task and previous psychophysical studies found that the motor system continues to generate accurate predictions during altered visual feedback (Kumar and Mutha,
The independence of arm kinematics and task performance forward models is consistent with recent psychophysical results. When subjects were asked to intercept their moving index finger with the index of the other hand in the absence of visual feedback, there was no difference in performance whether the target finger was moving voluntarily or passively (Darling et al.,
The presence of arm and task performance forward models integrated at the Purkinje cell level could provide insights into motor learning as presented in Figure 1. The effector forward model operates in the kinematics domain and is consistent with the classical view of implicit motor learning (Figure 1A). The task model operates in the task performance domain and is consistent with a forward model of the explicit strategy (see Figure 1E). In this view, in the initial phase of adaptation only the effector model is updated to exclusively minimize the sensory prediction errors related to kinematic parameters, while the explicit strategy, under cerebral cortical control (McDougle et al.,
An important aspect of brain function is skilled performance. Skilled behavior requires fast execution, decreased sensitivity to perturbations and reduced cognitive effort (Ramnani, 2014; Haith and Krakauer,
Implications for Generative Models
Recent attempts at a unifying framework of brain function hypothesize that the CNS acts as a predictive machine (Friston,
Cerebellar forward internal models have been proposed as an example of generative models (Pickering and Clark, 2014). The connectivity between the cerebellum and cerebral cortex noted above provides the substrate for recursive network interactions between the two structures, and suggest possible candidates for such hierarchical levels. One of the open issues in this framework is the integration of the cerebellar forward models in the larger cognitive architecture, hinging on whether and how cerebellar models integrate context dependent outputs. The observation that the cerebellar cortex encodes simultaneously forward models of arm kinematics and task performance errors supports the hypothesis that the behavioral context is reflected in the cerebellar activity (see Figure 1F). The independence of the kinematic and task specific models suggests that the cerebellum can engage and update combinations of different forward internal models depending on the behavioral context. This could provide a “complete” control mechanism, integrating execution accuracy and outcome, allowing fast execution of complex behaviors in variable contexts.
Statements
Author contributions
LP and TE jointly wrote the review.
Funding
This work was supported in part by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant R01 NS18338.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Kathleen Beterams for her help with the manuscript.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer EL declared a past co-authorship with the authors to the handling editor.
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Summary
Keywords
Purkinje cell, simple spike, complex spike, kinematics, performance error, sensory prediction error, forward internal model, generative model
Citation
Popa LS and Ebner TJ (2019) Cerebellum, Predictions and Errors. Front. Cell. Neurosci. 12:524. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2018.00524
Received
15 October 2018
Accepted
17 December 2018
Published
15 January 2019
Volume
12 - 2018
Edited by
Mario U. Manto, University of Mons, Belgium
Reviewed by
Marco Molinari, Fondazione Santa Lucia (IRCCS), Italy; Eric J. Lang, New York University, United States; Chris I. De Zeeuw, Sophia Children’s Hospital, Netherlands
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© 2019 Popa and Ebner.
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*Correspondence: Timothy J. Ebner ebner001@umn.edu
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