Exploring the Role of the Cerebellum in Sensory Anticipation and Timing

r r Abstract: The past decade has witnessed a paradigm shift concerning the study of the cerebellum. Results from various studies employing a variety of methodologies suggest that the functional role of this structure is not limited to motor control. The article by Tesche and Karhu appearing in this issue, provides strong evidence that the cerebellum in humans is activated in anticipation of somatosensory events, even when these events do not require overt responses. In their study, the sensory response is observed when the stimuli fail to occur at expected points in time, consistent with the hypothesis that the cerebellum is specialized for representing the temporal relationships between events, motoric or otherwise. Timing and sensory expectancy likely reflect nested hypotheses, and it remains to be seen if one provides a more encompassing yet specific view of cerebellar function. Hum. Brain Mapping 9:115–118, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Key words: cerebellum; temporal processing; sensory expectancy; cognition; neuroimaging r r Our understanding of the cerebellum has been in a state of upheaval for the past 10 years. In the classic sense described by Kuhn (1970), there has been a paradigm shift regarding the functional role of the cerebellum. With a few notable exceptions [e.g., Watson, 1978], the traditional view of cerebellar func-tion was restricted to an analysis of how this structure contributed to motor control and the acquisition of skilled actions. However, the theoretical perspectives and tools of cognitive neuroscience have made appar-ent the limitations of dividing neural structures along task domains such as perception, memory, or move-ment. In parallel with these developments, empirical results, both predicted and serendipitous have indi-cated that a narrow view of cerebellar function will prove insufficient. The article appearing in this issue, “Anticipator