About this Research Topic
The cerebellum has classically been considered a region important for precise motor control, but recent evidence suggests cerebellar guidance of non-motor behaviors, including cognition and sociability. Research has primarily focused on circuits in early life, but the question remains as to potential mechanisms throughout adolescence and into aging. Cerebellar aging processes are unique in that biomarkers accumulate slower than other brain regions. It is currently unknown how cerebellar computations change within the cortex and with distal brain regions in aging, but it is possible that the cerebellum is resistant to neurodegeneration. There is a need to create models to understand how cerebellar-cerebrum circuits are involved in cognition and aging. Understanding how the cerebellar cortex receives and responds to neural activity from distal regions of the brain and vice versa to compute behavior throughout the lifespan will be important in discovering how the cerebellum contributes to aging pathologies.
The goal of this research topic proposal is to collect and disseminate knowledge in regard to cerebellar contribution to behavior throughout the lifespan. There is a lack of research to explain how cerebellar processes change in males and females from adolescence to aging and how they influence behavior. Neurodegenerative disorders associated with cerebellar pathology, including spinocerebellar ataxia, also influence cognitive dysfunction and negatively impact social behavior. Individuals with such disorders become more socially isolated, which can impact mental health and further progress cognitive decline. Moreover, when the cerebellum displays pathology of neurodegeneration, including Alzheimer’s disease, onset is faster and symptoms are more severe. It is currently unknown how subregions of the cerebellar influence both local and distal neural circuitry or if these pathways remain consistent in structure and function. Therefore it is important to understand cerebellar processes not only in early life but throughout the aging process.
The scope of this work is very broad and can include theory and mechanisms of cerebellar structure and function in early life throughout aging. Studies can include computational modeling, animal models, clinical research, or a combination thereof, as it is important to compare across species with the possibility of translating research into therapeutic treatments. As this research topic will discuss cerebellar physiology across the lifespan, research may focus on early development, adolescence, adulthood, or aging. In particular, whether cerebellar-cerebrum connections differ in males and females is also still unknown and would be crucial to this research topic. Lastly, new methods of targeting cerebellar physiology, along with classic methods of electrophysiology and behavior should be explored. In this way, our research topic will be broad to include both theoretical approaches as well as the study of basic neurobehavioral processes and clinically relevant cerebellar pathologies.
The goal of this research topic proposal is to collect and disseminate knowledge in regard to cerebellar contribution to behavior throughout the lifespan. There is a lack of research to explain how cerebellar processes change in males and females from adolescence to aging and how they influence behavior. Neurodegenerative disorders associated with cerebellar pathology, including spinocerebellar ataxia, also influence cognitive dysfunction and negatively impact social behavior. Individuals with such disorders become more socially isolated, which can impact mental health and further progress cognitive decline. Moreover, when the cerebellum displays pathology of neurodegeneration, including Alzheimer’s disease, onset is faster and symptoms are more severe. It is currently unknown how subregions of the cerebellar influence both local and distal neural circuitry or if these pathways remain consistent in structure and function. Therefore it is important to understand cerebellar processes not only in early life but throughout the aging process.
The scope of this work is very broad and can include theory and mechanisms of cerebellar structure and function in early life throughout aging. Studies can include computational modeling, animal models, clinical research, or a combination thereof, as it is important to compare across species with the possibility of translating research into therapeutic treatments. As this research topic will discuss cerebellar physiology across the lifespan, research may focus on early development, adolescence, adulthood, or aging. In particular, whether cerebellar-cerebrum connections differ in males and females is also still unknown and would be crucial to this research topic. Lastly, new methods of targeting cerebellar physiology, along with classic methods of electrophysiology and behavior should be explored. In this way, our research topic will be broad to include both theoretical approaches as well as the study of basic neurobehavioral processes and clinically relevant cerebellar pathologies.
Keywords: cerebellum, behavior, brain, circuits, aging, computation
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