Role of the cerebellum in exploration behavior.

Compared to +/+ mice, Lurcher (+/Lc) mutant mice whose cerebellar cortex is lacking almost all Purkinje cells and granule cells, exhibit a low level of exploration; this deficit is not due to a low level of activity but to both a decreased motivation to explore a novel environment and to spatial deficits. The characteristics of exploration in cerebellectomized +/+ and +/Lc mice suggest that the cerebellum is involved not only in cognitive but also in motivational processes.