Department of Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
Cerebellum. 2011 Mar;10(1):61-9. doi: 10.1007/s12311-010-0228-z.
Until recently, the cerebellum was primarily considered to be a structure involved in motor behaviour. New anatomical and clinical evidence has shown that the cerebellum is also involved in higher cognitive functions and non-motor behavioural changes. Functional imaging in patients with anxiety disorders and in cholecystokinin tetrapeptide-induced panic-attacks shows activation changes in the cerebellum. Deep brain stimulation of the dorsolateral periaqueductal grey (dlPAG) and the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) in rats has been shown to induce escape behaviour, which mimics a panic attack in humans. We used this animal model to study the neuronal activation in the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCbN) using c-Fos immunohistochemistry. c-Fos expression in the DCbN decreased significantly after inducing escape behaviour by stimulation of the dlPAG and the VMH, indicating that the DCbN were deactivated. This study demonstrates that the DCbN are directly or indirectly involved in panic attacks. We suggest that the cerebellum plays a role in the selection of relevant information, and that deactivation of the cerebellar nuclei is required to allow inappropriate behaviour to occur, such as panic attacks.
直到最近，小脑主要被认为是参与运动行为的结构。新的解剖学和临床证据表明，小脑也参与更高的认知功能和非运动行为变化。在焦虑障碍患者和胆囊收缩素四肽诱导的惊恐发作的功能成像中，显示小脑的激活变化。在大鼠的背外侧导水管周围灰质（dlPAG）和腹内侧下丘脑（VMH）的深部脑刺激已被证明可引起逃避行为，这模拟了人类的惊恐发作。我们使用这种动物模型，通过 c-Fos 免疫组织化学研究深小脑核（DCbN）中的神经元激活。通过刺激 dlPAG 和 VMH 诱导逃避行为后，DCbN 中的 c-Fos 表达显著降低，表明 DCbN 失活。这项研究表明，DCbN 直接或间接地参与惊恐发作。我们认为小脑在选择相关信息方面发挥作用，并且小脑核的失活是允许发生不当行为（如惊恐发作）所必需的。
