WEBVTT - How Does the Cerebellum Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, in an average week, how

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<v Speaker 1>many times would you say you walk across the room,

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<v Speaker 1>drive your car, try and potentially fail to learn dance

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<v Speaker 1>choreography off of YouTube. Chances are you're doing at least

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<v Speaker 1>one of those on a regular basis, and you have

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<v Speaker 1>one small, but mighty brain structure to thank for it,

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<v Speaker 1>the cerebellum, named for the Latin term for little brain

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<v Speaker 1>and hanging off the back of the main brain. This

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<v Speaker 1>adorable sounding anatomical feature packs a major punch for its

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<v Speaker 1>diminutive size. For the article of this episode is based

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<v Speaker 1>on has to Work. Spoke by email with Genese Wiseman,

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<v Speaker 1>m D, a clinical associate professor in the Department of

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<v Speaker 1>Neurology at the n y U S School of Medicine.

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<v Speaker 1>She said the brain weighs about three pounds one point

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<v Speaker 1>three kilos, and the cerebellum makes up about ten percent

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<v Speaker 1>of that. It's made up of free lobes the vermice

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<v Speaker 1>in the center of vermics means worms in Latin, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's a long, thin structure that looks like a worm

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<v Speaker 1>and a cerebellar hemisphere on each side of that. Housta

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<v Speaker 1>Works also spoke via email with Daniel Friedman, d O,

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<v Speaker 1>a pediatric neurophysiology fellow at Nationwide Children's Hospital. He said

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<v Speaker 1>it weighs about five ounces a hundred forty grams. It's

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<v Speaker 1>the coordination center of the brain and receives a large

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<v Speaker 1>amount of sensory input from the spinal cord and brain

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<v Speaker 1>regarding the body's movements and position. It uses this information

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<v Speaker 1>to maintain smooth, coordinated movements a wheel. Get to how

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<v Speaker 1>the cerebellum translates all that input into action in a second,

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<v Speaker 1>but first let's go deeper on this brain structures structure

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<v Speaker 1>how staff Works also spoke via email with Parnete Growl,

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<v Speaker 1>a fellow at Rush University Medical Center. She said it

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<v Speaker 1>has a beautiful branched appearance, which is very unique. It

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<v Speaker 1>has a complex circuitry, Friedman said. When put in half,

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<v Speaker 1>the branching pattern of the cerebellar, white matter required to

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<v Speaker 1>connect all the folia Latin for leaves can be seen.

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<v Speaker 1>This resembles a head of cauliflower or broccoli and is

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<v Speaker 1>referred to as the arbor vitae Latin for tree of life.

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<v Speaker 1>Appearances aside, the cerebellum plays a major role in a

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<v Speaker 1>variety of everyday functions. A Weissman explained, the vermice is

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<v Speaker 1>most associated with coordinating movement of the trunk and legs,

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<v Speaker 1>and the cerebellar hemispheres work to coordinate the movement of

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<v Speaker 1>the arms, hands, and fingers. The cerebellum coordinates voluntary movements

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<v Speaker 1>like posture, balance, coordination, and speech, resulting in smooth muscle movements.

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<v Speaker 1>The cerebellum gets sensory input from the joints in the

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<v Speaker 1>limbs in the trunk and also from the motor areas

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<v Speaker 1>of the brain, the parts that plan and direct movement.

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<v Speaker 1>The cerebellum matches those two inputs to make sure that

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<v Speaker 1>the limb or unk is doing what the motor cortex

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<v Speaker 1>in the brain wants it to. This is how you

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<v Speaker 1>can walk a straight line, or close your eyes and

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<v Speaker 1>touch your nose without missing. It coordinates the movement of

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<v Speaker 1>your eyes so that you can smoothly track an object.

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<v Speaker 1>It also coordinates the muscles of swallowing and speech so

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<v Speaker 1>you don't choke on your food, and so you can say,

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<v Speaker 1>Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. But according

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<v Speaker 1>to research published in October in the journal Neuron, all

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<v Speaker 1>these important functions are just part of the picture. The

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<v Speaker 1>cerebellum is apparently capable of a whole lot more, A

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<v Speaker 1>Wiseman said. Recently, scientists have found that this most well

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<v Speaker 1>known function may be only one of many functions of

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<v Speaker 1>the cerebellum, and only involved it. Other functions include modulation

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<v Speaker 1>of emotion, memory, language, and abstract thinking. Alike with movement,

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<v Speaker 1>the cerebellum monitors these functions to make sure that they're

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<v Speaker 1>being done the right way. It's been referred to as

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<v Speaker 1>the editor of the brain. With all of this responsibility,

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<v Speaker 1>you can't help but wonder what might happen if the

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<v Speaker 1>cerebellum were to experience any kind of damage, A Freedman said.

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<v Speaker 1>The primary symptom of a damaged cerebellum is a taxia,

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<v Speaker 1>or uncoordinated movement. Permanent damage to the cerebellum can come

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<v Speaker 1>from stroke, tumors, infection, or alcohol use. A taxia can

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<v Speaker 1>also be temporary, as seen in alcohol intoxication. Oh When

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<v Speaker 1>police officers conduct a roadside sobriety test, they're checking cerebellar

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<v Speaker 1>function by having you touch finger to nose or walk

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<v Speaker 1>a straight line, a Weistman said. Symptoms and signs of

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<v Speaker 1>cerebellar disease include difficulty coordinating movements such as walking, moving

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<v Speaker 1>the arms, and coordinating the muscles of swallowing in speech

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<v Speaker 1>into a smooth pattern, and people can have trouble with

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<v Speaker 1>balance of moving the arms and hands in the way

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<v Speaker 1>they want a swallowing and coordinating the voice when they speak,

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<v Speaker 1>and the speech can sound slurred. Cerebellar damage can cause

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<v Speaker 1>a tremor of the limbs, trunk, or voice. Because the

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<v Speaker 1>cerebellum also regulates smooth movements of the eyes of people

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<v Speaker 1>with cerebellar damage may also experience double vision or abnormal

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<v Speaker 1>eye movements, and because the cerebellum is apparently a player

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<v Speaker 1>in cognitive and emotional function, researchers believed damage could contribute

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<v Speaker 1>to mental illnesses like schizophrenia. While all of this sophisticated

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<v Speaker 1>circuitry certainly may seem exclusively reserved for human brains, the

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<v Speaker 1>cerebellum predates us by a long shot, and other vertebrates

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<v Speaker 1>have cerebellums that vary in size and shape but work similarly.

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<v Speaker 1>Elephants have the biggest that we know of. Al Weisman

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<v Speaker 1>said The cerebellum is an evolutionarily old structure hundreds of

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<v Speaker 1>millions of years old, found in fish and reptiles as

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<v Speaker 1>well as mammals. After all, fish have to swim straight

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<v Speaker 1>since the cerebellar, vermis and hemispheres coordinate different parts of

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<v Speaker 1>the body. As you look up the evolutionary scale, as

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<v Speaker 1>animals begin to use their hands in a way different

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<v Speaker 1>from their legs, they're cerebellar hemispheres get larger. But which

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<v Speaker 1>came first, the structure or the action. Today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on the article The cerebellum is the Body's Little

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<v Speaker 1>brain on house to works dot com, written by Michelle Konstantonovsky.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with house to works dot com, and it's produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit

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