Abstract
The cerebellum has traditionally been viewed as a structure that contributes primarily to motor coordination and control. However, beginning in the mid-1980s, anatomical, behavioral, and neuropsychological evidence began to suggest that the role of the cerebellum extends beyond a purely motor domain. Especially, electrophysiological and neuroimaging studies indicate that the cerebellum contributes to higher cognitive functions such as attention, memory, visuospatial cognition, planning and language. Clinically, several cognitive or psychiatric disorders, for example autism and attention-deficit hyperactivi ty disorder, have been reported to show neuropathological changes in the cerebellum, mainly volume reduction. In addition, there have been some reports about cognitive dysfunction caused by cerebellar lesions after stroke.
The converging evidence has prompted generation of new theories to explain the contributions of the cerebellum to such functions. The emerging hypotheses include monitoring and feedback on inner thought, coordination and control of information processing, and internal control of timing. However, the results of studies and hypotheses about relationship between cerebellum and cognitive function remain controversial, because, in previous studies, there ware some problems to establish the critical evidence. Further productive approach to understanding the contribution of cerebellum to cognitive functions will be to work toward the accumulation of well-specified studies that address the problem from diverse points of view.
