- 1-1 Introduction
- 1-2 Decomposition and Reconstruction
- 1-3 Neurons and Synapses
- 1-4 Neural Networks
- 1-5 Systems Control Mechanisms in the CNS
- 1-6 Reflexes and Voluntary Movements
- 1-7 Integration of reflexes
- 1-8 Motor Actions
- 1-9 Cognitive Functions
- 1-10 Beyond Movements
- 1-11 Scope of This Monograph
- 1-12 Summary
1-11 Scope of This Monograph
In the chapters that follow, the neuronal circuits of the cerebellum are decomposed and reconstructed as explained in this chapter. Early and recent historical material is presented in Chapters 2 and 3, and Chapters 4–9 update understanding of the cerebellum as an elaborate neuronal and molecular machine. Next, recent progress is presented about how this machine provides an advanced type of systems control for reflexes (Chapters 10–12) and voluntary movements (Chapters 13–15). The material covered in Chapters 10–15 reviews findings that came mainly after my 1984 book, The Cerebellum and Neural Control, and Barlow's 2002 monograph, The Cerebellum and Adaptive Control. Chapters 16 and 17 examine the new possibility that the involvement of the cerebellum goes beyond movements to the higher-level functions of motor actions and cognition. The last Chapter 18, "Concluding Thoughts," includes a summary of points made in preceding chapters about structural-functional relationships in neuronal circuit structures of the cerebellum as developed step by step in evolution.