Recent research reveals the cerebellum's role in fear regulation beyond motor control.necessary for survival. We experience fear in several ways that have helped humans stay alive, but it can go beyond what is appropriate for survival. Persistent fear anddisorder and general anxiety disorder, affecting about 8 percent of American women and 4 percent of American men.
Recent studies have observed the cerebellum's role, particularly in regulating fear. Fear is necessary for survival and humans learn fear responses through exposure. The cerebellum has been shown to contribute to learned fear responses, also known as conditioned fear responses. This is when a fear of a previously neutral stimulus is developed through a learning process like.
Functional brain imaging shows the involvement of the cerebellum in fear conditioning in humans but does not determine the exact role or even necessity of the cerebellum on fear. One way to assess the impact of a certain brain region on behavior is to study people who have experienced brain damage or brain lesions.
For comparison, the study also examined fear conditioning in mice with cerebellar cortical degeneration. The mice were placed in a fear conditioning chamber where they heard a tone followed by a shock. The mice were brought to the fear extinction chamber for three consecutive days following the fear acquisition to ensure the fear was completely gone.Patients with cerebellar cortical degeneration showed mild deficits in fear learning compared with controls.