Description
Cambridge Motor Learning and Synaptic Plasticity in the Cerebellum 2008 Edition by Paul J. Cordo, Curtis Calvin Bell, Stevan R. Harnad
This book is concerned with the involvement of the cerebellum in learning and remembering the ability to carry out 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 they actually have such a role is controversial. 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 levels of discourse. The book will appeal to neuroscientists and physiologists interested in the neural control of movement. 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. Crepel, 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.