The cerebellum may play a key role in autism, schizophrenia, and other brain disorders. Researchers are now probing the brains of both mice and people to understand how the cerebellum contributes to these conditions.
At first glance, the cerebellum looks a bit like a wrinkly, overgrown walnut shell. A closer look reveals two hemispheres with creases on the surface that sink down into deep grooves and split off into a network of coral-like branches. Peering through a microscope reveals a uniform pattern of densely packed cells. The cerebellum makes up only about 10 percent of the mass of the human brain but contains more than half of its neurons. Stretched out, its surface area would be nearly 80 percent that of the cerebral cortex.
Whether cerebellum-based therapies can help people with wide-ranging conditions remains to be seen. What’s clear, however, is that the cerebellum can no longer be ignored — and that its connections throughout the brain and contributions to brain function may be much broader than scientists had initially imagined.