Consensus Paper: Towards a Systems-Level View of Cerebellar Function: the Interplay Between Cerebellum, Basal Ganglia, and Cortex

TLDR

Evidence increasingly shows the cerebellum works with the cortex and basal ganglia, yet the reciprocal interactions among these regions remain unclear. This consensus paper compiles recent views on the cerebellum’s roles within the cerebello‑basal ganglia‑thalamo‑cortical system across motor and cognitive functions. It presents theoretical and empirical contributions covering evidence of dynamical interplay among cerebellum, basal ganglia, and cortex in humans and animals, perspectives on reciprocal influences in learning and control, and data suggesting cerebellar roles in basal ganglia movement disorders. Contributors agree that treating cerebellum, basal ganglia, and cortex as an integrated system deepens understanding of their functions, and they call for future experimental and computational work to clarify cerebellar‑basal ganglia circuitry in motor and non‑motor domains, while outlining advanced perspectives, consensus, disagreements, and open questions.

Abstract

Despite increasing evidence suggesting the cerebellum works in concert with the cortex and basal ganglia, the nature of the reciprocal interactions between these three brain regions remains unclear. This consensus paper gathers diverse recent views on a variety of important roles played by the cerebellum within the cerebello-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical system across a range of motor and cognitive functions. The paper includes theoretical and empirical contributions, which cover the following topics: recent evidence supporting the dynamical interplay between cerebellum, basal ganglia, and cortical areas in humans and other animals; theoretical neuroscience perspectives and empirical evidence on the reciprocal influences between cerebellum, basal ganglia, and cortex in learning and control processes; and data suggesting possible roles of the cerebellum in basal ganglia movement disorders. Although starting from different backgrounds and dealing with different topics, all the contributors agree that viewing the cerebellum, basal ganglia, and cortex as an integrated system enables us to understand the function of these areas in radically different ways. In addition, there is unanimous consensus between the authors that future experimental and computational work is needed to understand the function of cerebellar-basal ganglia circuitry in both motor and non-motor functions. The paper reports the most advanced perspectives on the role of the cerebellum within the cerebello-basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical system and illustrates other elements of consensus as well as disagreements and open questions in the field.