What is the Cerebellum and what does it do ?
The cerebellum is part of the brain. It lies under the cerebrum, towards the back, behind the brainstem and above the brainstem. The cerebellum is largely involved in “coordination”. Persons whose cerebellum doesn’t work well are generally clumsy and unsteady. The main clinical features of cerebellar disorders include incoordination, imbalance, and troubles with stabilizing eye movements. There are two distinguishable cerebellar syndromes — midline and hemispheric. Midline syndromes are characterized by imbalance. Persons are unsteady, they are unable to stand in Romberg with eyes open or closed, and are unable to well perform tandem gait. Severe midline disturbance causes “trunkal ataxia” a syndrome where a person is unable to sit on their bed without steadying themselves. Some persons have “titubation” or a bobbing motion of the head or trunk. Midline cerebellar disturbances also often affect eye movements. There may be nystagmus, ocular dysmetria and poor pursuit. Hemispheric cereb
