The Latin word for “cerebellum” means “little brain.” It is a part of the brain at the back of the head, right above and behind where the spinal cord connects to the brain itself. It is important for controlling how we move.

Scientists from the University of Basel found that the cerebellum, located at the back of the human brain, plays a significant role in recalling both happy and sad memories.

The main structure of the hindbrain, which comes from the Latin word for “little brain” and is tucked under the cerebral hemispheres, is known to coordinate sensory input with muscle responses. In other words, it is a key part of motor control.

But the new research, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and reviewed by experts, added to the idea that the cerebellum may play a role in some cognitive functions and emotional control, such as controlling how we react to fear and pleasure.

The amygdala and hippocampus are normally considered to be the brain regions primarily important for accumulating these emotional memories.

Recording Feelings

At the University of Basel, a team led by professors Dominique de Quervain and Andreas Papassotiropoulos used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the brains of 1,418 people.

The scans showed that the cerebellum was, in fact, involved in these kinds of emotional responses as they saw emotive – some pleasant, some negative – and neutral images.

Additionally, the study’s participants remembered both positive and negative visuals considerably better than neutral ones. The research found a clear correlation between the increased storage capability and times of increased cerebellar activity.

The purpose of the current study, according to the authors, was to determine whether the cerebellum and its connections to the brain are implicated in the phenomena of superior episodic memory for emotionally stirring visual information.

The study also showed that the cerebellum was relaying information to the amygdala and the hippocampus while getting information from the frontal section of the cingulate cortex, an area important for recognizing and processing feelings.

Neuroscientist Dominique de Quervain of the University of Basel in Switzerland argues that these findings suggest “that the cerebellum is an integral component of a network that is responsible for the improved storage of emotional information.”

The results of the study, according to the researchers, may contribute to a better understanding of the cerebellum’s function in complex cognitive and emotional processes.

The team concluded that the findings could be “relevant for the understanding of psychiatric disorders with aberrant emotional circuitry, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or autism spectrum disorder”.

Image Credit: Getty

You were reading: Brain Scans Show A Surprising New Function Of ‘Little Brain’