The cerebellum (red activation) communicates with different areas of the cerebrum (green activation) to enhance storage of emotional information.Credit: MCN, University of Basel
The cerebellum is primarily known for regulating movement. Scientists at the University of Basel have discovered that the cerebellum also plays an important role in remembering emotional experiences.
Both positive and negative emotional experiences are particularly well preserved in human memory. This phenomenon is important for our survival. Because we need to remember dangerous situations in order to avoid them in the future. Previous research has shown that a brain structure called the amygdala, which is important for processing emotions, plays a central role in this phenomenon. Emotions activate the amygdala and facilitate information storage in different areas of the brain.
The cerebellum (Latin for “little brain”) is the part of the brain at the back of the head between the cerebrum and the brainstem. Among other functions, the cerebellum plays an important role in motor control, regulation of walking and standing balance, and other complex motor functions.
Current research is investigating the role of the cerebellum in storing emotional experiences. In a large study, investigators showed her 1,418 participants emotional, neutral images and used magnetic resonance imaging to record the brain activity of the subjects. The research was led by his professors Dominique de Quervain and Andreas Papassotiropoulos at the University of Basel. It was published in the magazine dated October 3 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
In subsequent memory tests, positive and negative images were remembered much better by participants than neutral images. It was associated with increased brain activity in areas of the cerebrum known to be active.
The cerebellum, which communicates with the cerebrum
Scientists have also been able to demonstrate that the cerebellum exhibits stronger communication with different areas of the cerebrum in the process of enhanced memory of emotional images. It is a brain region that is important in perception and evaluation.In addition, the cerebellum sends signals to different areas of the brain, such as the amygdala and hippocampus. The latter plays a central role in memory storage.
“These results demonstrate that the cerebellum is an integral component of the network and is involved in improved storage of emotional information,” says de Quervain. Improving memory for emotional events is an important survival mechanism, but it also has a downside. For very negative experiences, anxiety can recur. This means that the currently published findings may also be relevant to our understanding of psychiatric conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
Basel Studies on Emotion and Memory
The current study is part of a larger research project conducted by the research platform Molecular Cognitive Neuroscience (MCN) at the University of Basel and the University of Basel Psychiatric Clinic (UPK). The aim of this project is to better understand emotional and cognitive processes and translate the results of basic research into clinical projects.
References: Matthias Fastonrath, Clara Spahlek, David Koinel, Eva Ruth, Annette Milnick, Tobias Egli, Natalie Schicktanz, Leonie Geismann, Benno Rosendahl, Andreas Papassotiropoulos, Dominique J. -F, “The human cerebellar-corticocerebellar connection is involved in enhancing emotional memory,” de Quervain, 3 October 2022, Available here. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2204900119
