Why have you chosen this topic?
- One of the holy grail questions of cerebellar research is “what does the cerebellum do?”.
- Many theories have been proposed attempting to answer this question. However, there has been a lot of focus on the cerebellum in its mature (adult) form, but not as much on the developing cerebellum.
- Given our interest in the cerebellum as a powerful computational structure that subserves functions associated with cognition, language, social and emotional processes, it seems like an oversight to ignore the cerebellum during a particularly interesting period of development: the prenatal period.
- We should care about the prenatal period for the following reasons:
- Cerebellum has a protracted development, which means that it does not mature until about the 11th postnatal month
- It is very sensitive to perturbation during this period resulting from teratogenic influences
- There is recent evidence that discusses the unique genetic landscape of the developing cerebellum and how disruptio during these sensitive periods affects later developmental outcomes
- Some of the theories of cerebellar function may be better understood through the lens of the developmental period rather than the mature adult brain
- Cerebellar damage has very different outcomes depending on the stage of development and this affects how we interpret the cerebellum’s involvement in different cognitive functions.
- Take social cognition as an example: review research on posterior fossa syndrome
Outline
General Introduction
- What this review will highlight is how cerebellar maturation during the prenatal period shapes later developmental outcomes, with a specific focus on social cognition
- Highlighting papers in the past two years that bring this topic to attention, using different methodologies, from animal models to neuroimaging.
How does the cerebellum develop?
- Focus on connectivity with the cerebral cortex
- Transcriptomics development
- End with protracted development of cerebellum
Sensitive period of prenatal cerebellar development
- How this period shapes later development (what happens when things go wrong)
Cerebellar development + prematurity
- How prematurity affects later outcomes (specific focus on the cerebellum)
Cerebellum and abnormal social development
- Cortico-cerebellar connectivity and social cognition
- Abnormal cerebellar development in ASD
Cortico-cerebellar connectivity from infancy to adulthood
- Why is cerebellar injury result in mild cognitive symptoms in adults but severe in children?
- What theories of cerebellar function explain the cerebellum’s role in infancy and adulthood?
Future Directions / Outstanding Questions