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Cerebellum

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Abstract

The cerebellum is the great coordinator of muscle action and is important for learning motor tasks. It synchronizes contractions of muscles within and among groups, smoothing out responses by delicately regulating and grading muscle tensions. Thus, it plays an important role in equilibrium and muscle tone. Located in the posterior cranial fossa, beneath the tentorium cerebelli and behind the pons and medulla, the cerebellum processes sensory input related to the ongoing motor activity, all on an unconscious level. It plays no part in conscious perceptions or intelligence, although there is good evidence indicating that it is involved in nonmotor functions.

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Strominger, N.L., Demarest, R.J., Laemle, L.B. (2012). Cerebellum. In: Noback's Human Nervous System, Seventh Edition. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-779-8_18

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