Cerebellum and its disorders

The cerebellum has been known for its roles in motor coordination and timing and has been recently implicated in normal cognitive functions such as facial recognition, emotion and directed attention. Neurological disorders such as ataxia, autism, Alzheimer's dementia, Parkinson's disease, dyskinesia have been linked with dysfunctions of cerebellum and interconnected circuits. In this chapter, we discuss the roles and computational models of cerebellar network along with its interactions with other circuits including basal ganglia and cortico-cerebellar-thalamic-cortical circuits. The dynamics of such large-scale reconstructions allow for simulating several interlocking levels at single neuron and network circuits for modeling disease conditions. The chapter provides an overview of the computational properties of the cerebellar circuits and potential reconstruction of emergent behavior. Mathematical modeling of local field response during control and diseased condition has been indicated to simulate information processing in disease conditions. We also discuss models of ataxia, autism and epileptic conditions as simulated using the cerebellar granular layer.