A Functional Atlas of the Cerebellum Based on NeuroSynth Task Coordinates

Abstract

Although the human cerebellum has a surface that is about 80% of that of the cerebral cortex and has about four times as many neurons, its functional organization is still very much uncharted. Despite recent attempts to provide resting-state and task-based parcellations of the cerebellum, these two approaches lead to large discrepancies. This article describes a comprehensive task-based functional parcellation of the human cerebellum based on a large-scale functional database, NeuroSynth, involving an unprecedented diversity of tasks, which were reliably associated with ontological key terms referring to psychological functions. Involving over 44,500 participants from this database, we present a parcellation that exhibits replicability with earlier resting-state parcellations across cerebellar and neocortical structures. The functional parcellation of the cerebellum confirms the major networks revealed in prior work, including sensorimotor, directed (dorsal) attention, divided (ventral) attention, executive control, mentalizing (default mode) networks, tiny patches of a limbic network, and also a unilateral language network (but not the visual network), and the association of these networks with underlying ontological key terms confirms their major functionality. The networks are revealed at locations that are roughly similar to prior resting-state cerebellar parcellations, although they are less symmetric and more fragmented across the two hemispheres. This functional parcellation of the human cerebellum and associated key terms can provide a useful guide in designing studies to test specific functional hypotheses and provide a reference for interpreting the results.

Editorial: A multi-talented butterfly: the role of the cerebellum in social cognition, emotion, and language

“…A recent large-scale meta-analysis examined over 1000 fMRI studies encompassing more than 44,500 participants regarding task-based functional organization within the cerebellum (Van Overwalle et al, 2023). This parcellation suggested that there are 10 functional clusters associated to seven networks, similar to what was proposed by Buckner et al (2011).…”

“…The human cerebellum has a surface that is about 80% of that of the cerebral cortex and has about four times as many neurons (Lent et al, 2012;Sereno et al, 2020). With this in mind, it is surprising that neuroscientists have only relatively recently become interested in cerebellar involvement in social, emotional and linguistic processes (See meta-analyses: Buckner et al, 2011;Van Overwalle et al, 2020a,b, 2023.…”

“…Going beyond the traditional understanding of the cerebellum as a motor controller (Manto et al, 2012), there is a growing awareness that the cerebellum also plays a critical role in non-motor domains; from basic cognitive functions to complex social functions. Multiple meta-analyses conducted during the last decade have shown that the cerebellum, especially the posterior cerebellum, is robustly and consistently activated during non-motor tasks (Van Overwalle et al, 2014, 2023Guell et al, 2018;King et al, 2019).…”