Cerebellar Control of Saccades

摘要

Saccades are rapid eye movements that shift the line of sight between successive points of fixation. The cerebellum calibrates saccadic amplitude (dorsal vermis and fastigial nucleus) and the saccadic pulse‐step match (flocculus) for optimal visuo‐ocular motor behavior. Based on electrophysiology and the pharmacological inactivation studies, early activity in one fastigial nucleus could be important for accelerating the eyes at the beginning of a saccade, and the later activity in the other fastigial nucleus could be critical for stopping the eye on target, which is controlled by inhibitory projection from the dorsal vermis. The cerebellum could monitor a corollary discharge of the saccadic command and terminate the eye movement when it is calculated to be on target. The fastigial nucleus and dorsal vermis also participate in the adaptive control of saccadic accuracy.