Some Ideas on Information Processing in the Cerebellum

Other papers presented at this conference tend to deal either with extremely formalised models of neural networks, or with peripheral processing. Therefore, it may be a useful reminder of how much further such studies have to go if we present here some ideas on information processing in the cerebellum, to emphasize how complicated real neuronic interactions can be, and to emphasize how ignorant we are of “the language of neurons” when we move away from the periphery. Here we attempt to formulate questions rather than provide answers — our hope being that we may remind the theorist of a vast range of exacting problems, and stimulate the biologist to learn new types of experimental questions. Our models are not yet in predictive form, not least because much crucial experimental data is lacking — we hope that experimentalists, reading between the lines, will be prompted to carry out new experiments, and then confront the theorists with the task of appropriately refining our approach. We clearly have a long way to go before we can be satisfied with any models of complex neural structures which are not located in the mainstream of the input and output systems.