Luciani's work on the cerebellum a century later

In 1891, Luigi Luciani published his famous monograph on the cerebellum and formulated his triad of the cerebellar symptoms: atonia, asthenia and astasia, which explained all troubles provoked by cerebellar lesions; later he added a fourth sign, dysmetria. In spite of the fact that it was advanced in a pre-electrophysiological period, Luciani's interpretation of the cerebellar role in many motor functions survives more than a century later and his terminology has entered the routine of the neurological examination. With the modern knowledge of cerebellar circuitries, we can state that Luciani rightly pointed out the role of the cerebellum in regulating postural tone and muscular force, and that conversely he was wrong in denying cerebellar influence in co-ordination of multi-joint movements and the somatotopic localizations in the cerebellar cortex and nuclei. In spite of this, Luciani's work represents a milestone in cerebellar physiology.

[1]  G. Moruzzi,et al.  Crossed fastigial influence on decerebrate rigidity , 1956, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[2]  R. Granit,et al.  The two routes for excitation of muscle and their subservience to the cerebellum , 1955, The Journal of physiology.

[3]  R. Dow,et al.  EFFECTS OF GAMMA LOOP INTERRUPTION ON CEREBELLAR CONTROL OF INDIVIDUAL ALPHA MOTONEURON STRETCH REFLEXES. , 1964, Journal of neurophysiology.

[4]  R. Snider,et al.  RECEIVING AREAS OF THE TACTILE, AUDITORY, AND VISUAL SYSTEMS IN THE CEREBELLUM , 1944 .

[5]  L Petrosini,et al.  Cerebellar Contribution to Spatial Event Processing: Morris Water Maze and T‐maze , 1996, The European journal of neuroscience.

[6]  W T Thach,et al.  The cerebellum and the adaptive coordination of movement. , 1992, Annual review of neuroscience.

[7]  E. Adrian.  AFFERENT AREAS IN THE CEREBELLUM CONNECTED WITH THE LIMBS , 1943 .

[8]  O. Larsell,et al.  The comparative anatomy and histology of the cerebellum , 1967 .

[9]  C S Sherrington,et al.  Decerebrate Rigidity, and Reflex Coordination of Movements , 1898, The Journal of physiology.

[10]  W. T. Thach,et al.  Anatomical evidence for segregated focal groupings of efferent cells and their terminal ramifications in the cerebellothalamic pathway of the monkey , 1983, Brain Research Reviews.

[11]  G. Holmes.  THE SYMPTOMS OF ACUTE CEREBELLAR INJURIES DUE TO GUNSHOT INJURIES , 1917 .

[12]  R. Dow,et al.  Some observations on the effects of cerebellectomy in the rat , 1963, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[13]  A. L. Leiner,et al.  Reappraising the cerebellum: what does the hindbrain contribute to the forebrain? , 1989, Behavioral neuroscience.

[14]  A. L. Leiner,et al.  Does the cerebellum contribute to mental skills? , 1986, Behavioral neuroscience.

[15]  L. Bolk.  Das Cerebellum der Säugetiere : eine vergleichende anatomische Untersuchung , 1906 .

[16]  W. James,et al.  Il Cervelletto. Nuovi Studi di Fisiologia Normale e Patologica. , 1893 .

[17]  Professor Dr. John C. Eccles,et al.  The Cerebellum as a Neuronal Machine , 1967, Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

[18]  G. Rademaker.  Das Stehen: Statische Reaktionen Gleichgewichtsreaktionen und Muskeltonus unter Besonderer Berücksichtigung Ihres Verhaltens bei Kleinhirnlosen Tieren , 1931 .

[19]  Masao Ito.  The Cerebellum And Neural Control , 1984 .

[20]  S. Gilman.  The mechanism of cerebellar hypotonia. An experimental study in the monkey. , 1969, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[21]  R. Dow,et al.  The Physiology and Pathology of the Cerebellum , 1958 .