Cerebellar damage impairs internal predictions for sensory and motor function

- Cerebellar damage impairs predictions of visual object motion.
- Cerebellar damage impairs active proprioception during movement execution but not passive proprioception.
- Motor deficits from cerebellar damage may be due to impaired predictions of limb inertia.
- A general function of the cerebellum may be predicting visual, sensory and motor movements.

The cerebellum is connected to cerebral areas that subserve a range of sensory and motor functions. In this review, we summarize new literature demonstrating deficits in visual perception, proprioception, motor control, and motor learning performance following cerebellar damage. In particular, we highlight novel results that together suggest a general role of the cerebellum in estimating and predicting movement dynamics of the body and environmental stimuli. These findings agree with the hypothesized role of the cerebellum in the generation and calibration of predictive models for a variety of functions.