NACS Seminar: Dr. Reza Shadmehr

Building internal models in the cerebellum

Building internal models in the cerebellum

The cerebellum is not necessary for making a movement. Rather, it is necessary to make the movement well. Here I present data on how the principal cells in the cerebellum, Purkinje cells, form populations that together control a goal directed eye movement. When the movement does not go as expected, these cells learn from the resulting error, and alter the motor commands. The key in understanding this process of adaptive control appears to be the preference that Purkinje cells have for errors: Purkinje cells that prefer similar errors cluster together into a population that learns to control the ongoing movement. 

Dr. Reza Shadmehr is a professor of Biomedical Engineering and Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The event is free open to the public.