It takes two to tango: Cerebellar modules and learning rules
Abstract:
Whereas our ability to store semantic declarative information can nowadays be readily surpassed by that of simple personal computers, our ability to learn and express procedural memories still outperforms that of supercomputers controlling the most advanced robots. To a large extent our procedural memories are formed in the cerebellum, which embodies more than two thirds of all neurons in our brain. In this lecture I will focus on the emerging view that different modules of the cerebellum employ different encoding schemes to form and express their respective memories. More specifically, zebrin-positive zones in the cerebellum, such as those controlling adaptation of the vestibulo-ocular reflex or whisker movements, appear to predominantly form their memories by potentiation mechanisms and express their memories via rate coding, whereas zebrin-negative zones, such as those controlling eyeblink conditioning and planning of tongue movements, appear to predominantly form their memories by suppression mechanisms and express their memories in part by temporal coding employing rebound bursting. Together, the different types of modules offer a rich repertoire to acquire and control sensorimotor processes with specific challenges in the spatiotemporal domain.