抄録
The cerebro-cerebellar communication system proposed by Allen and Tsukahara (1974) was a major landmark for behavioral neuroscience. Their insights on the two cerebro-cerebellar loops, a closed sensorimotor-cerebellar-sensorimotor loop through the intermediate zone and a more open association/sensorimotor-cerebellar-sensorimotor loop, have contributed tremendously to our understanding how motor commands are programmed and generated in this system. But, new developments of our studies go beyond the notion, and are opening a gate to new functional aspects of the system. Namely, the use of viral tracing and fMRI revealed that not only the cerebral motor areas, but also the parietal and prefrontal cortex, closely link with the cerebellum, thus contributing to various higher brain functions. Among various possible roles of the cerebro-cerebellar communication system, however, the central issue is still its role in motor control and learning. In the light of recent neurophysiological findings, the ventral premotor cortex (PMv) will be focused, and a tight linkage between the PMv and the cerebellum in prism adaptation that requires dynamic changes in frames of reference for visually-guided reaching movements will be discussed in this symposium. [Jpn J Physiol 54 Suppl:S50 (2004)]
