Motor Learning and Synaptic Plasticity in the Cerebellum / Edition 1

by Paul J. Cordo, Curtis Calvin Bell, Stevan R. Harnad

Overview

This book is concerned with the involvement of the cerebellum in learning and remembering certain motor tasks such as walking, riding a bicycle, and speaking. Processes of plasticity have been identified at the cellular level in the cerebellum that could underlie the learning of motor tasks, but whether these processes actually have such a role is a controversial topic. This book is unique in bringing together studies of plasticity at the cellular level with studies of plasticity or learning at the behavioral level, and in attempting to build bridges between these two fields of discourse. The book will appeal to neuroscientists and physiologists interested in the neural control of movement.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521597050
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/28/1997
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	212
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.98(h) x 0.63(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: motor learning and synaptic plasticity in the cerebellum C. Bell, P. Cordo and S. Harnad; 2. Cerebellar mechanisms of long-term depression in the cerebellum F. Crépel, N. Hemart, D. Jailler and H. Daniel; 3. Long-lasting potentiation of GABAergic inhibitory synaptic transmission in cerebellar Purkinje cells: its properties and possible mechanisms Masanobu Kano; 4. Nitric oxide and synaptic plasticity: NO news from the cerebellum Steven R. Vincent; 5. Models of the cerebellum and motor learning James C. Houk, Jay T. Buckingham and Andrew Barto; 6. On climbing fiber signals and their consequence(s) J. I. Simpson, D. R. Wylie and C. I. De Zeeuw; 7. Does the cerebellum learn strategies for the optimal time-varying control of joint stiffness? Allan M. Smith; 8. On the specific role of the cerebellum in motor learning and cognition: clues from PET activation and lesion studies in man W. T. Thach; Open Peer Commentary; References; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...for those working in the fields of cerebellar physiology and learning and memory, both at the behavioral and cellular level, this book is a must. There are ideas, hypotheses, data, reviews, speculations, and references to satisfy all. This book will also be of interest to those non-experts who only have time to browse. There is no better account of the current exciting state of cerebellar physiology." The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences

"...provides an excellent review of contemporary research on the cerebellum in motor learning. It succeeds in making a significant contribution toward clarifying unresolved and controversial issues through informed commentaries and the replies to them from the original authors...an informative book that communicates the current state of cerebellum research." Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society

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