The Cerebellum’s Orchestra: Understanding the Functional Connectivity of Its Lobes and Deep Nuclei in Coordination and Integration of Brain Networks
The cerebellum, a crucial brain region, significantly contributes to various brain functions. Although it occupies a small portion of the brain, it houses nearly half of the neurons in the nervous system. Previously thought to be solely involved in motor activities, the cerebellum has since been fou...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Tomography |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2379-139X/9/2/72 |
| _version_ | 1827743654126551040 |
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| author | Adnan A. S. Alahmadi |
| author_facet | Adnan A. S. Alahmadi |
| author_sort | Adnan A. S. Alahmadi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The cerebellum, a crucial brain region, significantly contributes to various brain functions. Although it occupies a small portion of the brain, it houses nearly half of the neurons in the nervous system. Previously thought to be solely involved in motor activities, the cerebellum has since been found to play a role in cognitive, sensory, and associative functions. To further elucidate the intricate neurophysiological characteristics of the cerebellum, we investigated the functional connectivity of cerebellar lobules and deep nuclei with 8 major functional brain networks in 198 healthy subjects. Our findings revealed both similarities and differences in the functional connectivity of key cerebellar lobules and nuclei. Despite robust functional connectivity among these lobules, our results demonstrated that they exhibit heterogeneous functional integration with different functional networks. For instance, lobules 4, 5, 6, and 8 were linked to sensorimotor networks, while lobules 1, 2, and 7 were associated with higher-order, non-motor, and complex functional networks. Notably, our study uncovered a lack of functional connectivity in lobule 3, strong connections between lobules 4 and 5 with the default mode networks, and connections between lobules 6 and 8 with the salience, dorsal attention, and visual networks. Additionally, we found that cerebellar nuclei, particularly the dentate cerebellar nuclei, were connected to sensorimotor, salience, language, and default-mode networks. This study provides valuable insights into the diverse functional roles of the cerebellum in cognitive processing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:29:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f16a1cf4bc7745a7b041388216e06aad |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2379-1381 2379-139X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:29:35Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Tomography |
| spelling | doaj.art-f16a1cf4bc7745a7b041388216e06aad2023-11-17T21:36:47ZengMDPI AGTomography2379-13812379-139X2023-04-019288389310.3390/tomography9020072The Cerebellum’s Orchestra: Understanding the Functional Connectivity of Its Lobes and Deep Nuclei in Coordination and Integration of Brain NetworksAdnan A. S. Alahmadi0Department of Radiologic Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaThe cerebellum, a crucial brain region, significantly contributes to various brain functions. Although it occupies a small portion of the brain, it houses nearly half of the neurons in the nervous system. Previously thought to be solely involved in motor activities, the cerebellum has since been found to play a role in cognitive, sensory, and associative functions. To further elucidate the intricate neurophysiological characteristics of the cerebellum, we investigated the functional connectivity of cerebellar lobules and deep nuclei with 8 major functional brain networks in 198 healthy subjects. Our findings revealed both similarities and differences in the functional connectivity of key cerebellar lobules and nuclei. Despite robust functional connectivity among these lobules, our results demonstrated that they exhibit heterogeneous functional integration with different functional networks. For instance, lobules 4, 5, 6, and 8 were linked to sensorimotor networks, while lobules 1, 2, and 7 were associated with higher-order, non-motor, and complex functional networks. Notably, our study uncovered a lack of functional connectivity in lobule 3, strong connections between lobules 4 and 5 with the default mode networks, and connections between lobules 6 and 8 with the salience, dorsal attention, and visual networks. Additionally, we found that cerebellar nuclei, particularly the dentate cerebellar nuclei, were connected to sensorimotor, salience, language, and default-mode networks. This study provides valuable insights into the diverse functional roles of the cerebellum in cognitive processing.https://www.mdpi.com/2379-139X/9/2/72cerebellumfunctional connectivityresting state fMRIdeep cerebellar nuclei |
| spellingShingle | Adnan A. S. Alahmadi The Cerebellum’s Orchestra: Understanding the Functional Connectivity of Its Lobes and Deep Nuclei in Coordination and Integration of Brain Networks Tomography cerebellum functional connectivity resting state fMRI deep cerebellar nuclei |
| title | The Cerebellum’s Orchestra: Understanding the Functional Connectivity of Its Lobes and Deep Nuclei in Coordination and Integration of Brain Networks |
| title_full | The Cerebellum’s Orchestra: Understanding the Functional Connectivity of Its Lobes and Deep Nuclei in Coordination and Integration of Brain Networks |
| title_fullStr | The Cerebellum’s Orchestra: Understanding the Functional Connectivity of Its Lobes and Deep Nuclei in Coordination and Integration of Brain Networks |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Cerebellum’s Orchestra: Understanding the Functional Connectivity of Its Lobes and Deep Nuclei in Coordination and Integration of Brain Networks |
| title_short | The Cerebellum’s Orchestra: Understanding the Functional Connectivity of Its Lobes and Deep Nuclei in Coordination and Integration of Brain Networks |
| title_sort | cerebellum s orchestra understanding the functional connectivity of its lobes and deep nuclei in coordination and integration of brain networks |
| topic | cerebellum functional connectivity resting state fMRI deep cerebellar nuclei |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2379-139X/9/2/72 |
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