The cerebellum makes up only 10% of your brain, but has a surprising 80% of the nerve cells. What does the cerebellum do? And why does it need so many neurons? Work on cerebellum-like structures in the shark brain provides insight into these questions.
It turns out that these early cerebellar structures enable the shark to discriminate sensory signals from ‘prey’ from those generated by the shark’s own movement. This cerebellar sense of self has been retained by evolution and continues to explain much of what we know about our own cerebellum; how it works and what it does.
Professor John Montgomery is the Former Director of University of Auckland, Institute of Marine Science; Current Principal Investigator Centre for Brain Research.
For further information and to register: www.eventfinda.co.nz/2018/think-talk-the-cerebellar-self-insights-from-shark-brains/auckland/kohimarama
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For more information on Professor John Montgomery and his work, check out this article.
