Cerebellum
Hindbrain · Hindbrain
Side view
Midline view
Often called the 'little brain', the cerebellum sits at the back and bottom of the brain. Despite making up only about 10% of total brain volume, it contains over half of all neurons. It coordinates voluntary movements, balance, posture, and fine motor control.
Motor coordination, balance, fine motor skills
Hindbrain
The cerebellum has roughly 69 billion neurons - more than all other brain regions combined - yet it accounts for only ~10% of total brain volume.
Anatomy & Location
The cerebellum - Latin for "little brain" - sits below the occipital lobe and behind the brain stem, tucked into the back-bottom of the skull. Structurally, it looks strikingly different from the rest of the brain: its surface is folded into narrow, tightly packed ridges, giving it a much larger surface area relative to its volume than the cerebral cortex, and it's connected to the brain stem by three thick fibre bundles called peduncles.
Function in Depth
The cerebellum doesn't initiate movement - that's the job of the motor cortex in the frontal lobe - but it's essential for making movement smooth, accurate, and well-timed. It continuously compares the movement your brain intended to make with the movement your body is actually making, using sensory feedback from muscles and joints, and makes real-time corrections. This is why cerebellar damage doesn't cause paralysis but does cause clumsy, poorly coordinated movement.
Beyond movement, the cerebellum contributes to balance and posture via connections with the vestibular system, and it plays a role in motor learning - the process by which a movement, like a golf swing or a musical scale, becomes smooth and automatic with practice. More recent research has also implicated the cerebellum in cognitive functions such as attention, language processing, and emotional regulation, an area still being actively studied.
Notable Research & History
A defining fact about the cerebellum, confirmed by careful neuron-counting studies published in the 2000s and 2010s, is that despite making up only about a tenth of total brain volume, it contains more than half of all the neurons in the entire brain - a consequence of its tiny, densely packed granule cells, the most numerous neuron type in the human nervous system. This dramatically reshaped how neuroscientists think about "processing power" in the brain: raw neuron count doesn't map neatly onto cognitive complexity, since the cerebral cortex, with far fewer neurons, is responsible for our most complex thought.
When Something Goes Wrong
Damage to the cerebellum - from stroke, tumour, alcohol-related degeneration, or genetic disease - produces a characteristic set of symptoms grouped under ataxia: unsteady, uncoordinated movement, a wide-based, stumbling gait, and difficulty with tasks requiring fine timing, like rapid alternating hand movements or smooth speech. The cerebellum has also been studied for a possible role in ADHD, where some research has found differences in cerebellar structure and connectivity, though its exact contribution is still being investigated.
Role in Everyday Abilities
The cerebellum works with other regions to make these abilities possible:
- Memory: Learns precisely timed movements and skills, such as riding a bike or playing a scale.
- Movement: Compares intended and actual movement and corrects errors in real time; key to learning new motor skills.
Related Conditions
The cerebellum is discussed in connection with the following conditions on this site:
This article is for general education and isn't a substitute for professional medical advice. See our Terms of Use.
Sources & Further Reading
- Brain Basics: Know Your Brain - National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
- Equal numbers of neuronal and nonneuronal cells make the human brain an isometrically scaled-up primate brain - Azevedo et al. (2009), Journal of Comparative Neurology
- The human brain in numbers: a linearly scaled-up primate brain - Herculano-Houzel (2009), Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
- The cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome - Schmahmann & Sherman (1998), Brain