Sign up to access the complete lesson and track your progress!
Unlock This CourseHave you ever wondered how you can ride a bike without thinking about it, or how you can tie your shoelaces whilst chatting to a friend? These amazing abilities are thanks to a special part of your brain called the cerebellum and a type of memory called procedural memory. The cerebellum is like your brain's personal trainer - it helps you learn and remember how to do physical skills automatically.
Key Definitions:
The cerebellum sits at the back of your brain, underneath the main part (cerebrum). Even though it's only about 10% of your brain's total weight, it contains over half of all your brain's neurons! It looks a bit like a cauliflower and has two halves connected in the middle. The word "cerebellum" actually means "little brain" in Latin.
Think of the cerebellum as your brain's quality control department. It receives information from your senses, your muscles and other parts of your brain. Then it processes this information to help you move smoothly and learn new motor skills.
The cerebellum has several important functions that work together to help you move and learn:
Keeps you upright when walking, standing, or moving. It constantly adjusts your posture without you thinking about it.
Makes sure your movements are smooth and precise. It helps coordinate different muscle groups to work together.
Helps you learn new physical skills and store them as procedural memories that become automatic.
Procedural memory is one of the most fascinating types of memory because it works without you even realising it. Unlike other memories where you have to consciously remember facts or events, procedural memories just happen automatically when you need them.
Procedural Memory: "Knowing how" - riding a bike, playing piano, typing on a keyboard. These are stored in the cerebellum and other motor areas.
Declarative Memory: "Knowing that" - facts, events, names, dates. These are stored mainly in the hippocampus and temporal lobe.
Procedural memories are everywhere in your daily routine. Here are some common examples:
Learning a new skill involves several stages and the cerebellum plays a crucial role throughout this process. Understanding how this works can help you become better at learning new skills yourself.
Stage 1 - Cognitive: You think carefully about each step. Your cerebellum is working hard to coordinate new movements.
Stage 2 - Associative: You start to link movements together. The cerebellum begins to automate some parts.
Stage 3 - Autonomous: The skill becomes automatic. Your cerebellum has stored the complete motor pattern.
The saying "practice makes perfect" is actually scientifically accurate when it comes to procedural memory. Each time you repeat a skill, your cerebellum refines the motor pattern and makes it more automatic. This is why professional athletes, musicians and skilled craftspeople spend so much time practising - they're literally rewiring their cerebellum to perform at the highest level.
A famous patient known as H.M. had his hippocampus removed to treat severe epilepsy. This meant he couldn't form new declarative memories - he couldn't remember meeting new people or learning new facts. However, his cerebellum was intact, so he could still learn new motor skills. Researchers taught him to draw whilst looking in a mirror (a tricky skill!). Even though he couldn't remember practising, his performance improved each day, proving that procedural memory works independently of conscious memory.
Studying people with cerebellar damage has taught us a lot about how important this brain region is for procedural memory and motor control.
When the cerebellum is damaged, people develop a condition called ataxia. This affects their ability to coordinate movements and can impact their procedural memories.
Symptoms include:
The good news is that the brain has some ability to recover from cerebellar damage. Other brain areas can sometimes take over some functions and intensive physiotherapy can help people relearn motor skills. However, this process is much slower and more difficult than normal procedural learning.
Understanding how the cerebellum and procedural memory work has practical applications in many areas of modern life.
Teachers and coaches use knowledge about procedural memory to help students learn more effectively:
When you first learn to drive, you have to think about every action - checking mirrors, steering, using pedals. Your cerebellum is working overtime to coordinate all these new movements. After months of practice, these actions become procedural memories. Experienced drivers can navigate familiar routes whilst having conversations or listening to music, because their cerebellum has automated the driving skills. This is why driving instructors emphasise the importance of practice - they're helping you build strong procedural memories.
Scientists continue to discover new things about the cerebellum and procedural memory. Recent research has shown that the cerebellum might also be involved in some types of thinking and language processing, not just motor control.
Modern brain imaging techniques like fMRI and PET scans allow researchers to watch the cerebellum in action as people learn new skills. This has revealed that the cerebellum is more active during the early stages of learning and becomes less active as skills become automatic.
Understanding cerebellar function is helping develop new treatments for conditions like Parkinson's disease, stroke recovery and developmental coordination disorders. Researchers are exploring how targeted exercises and even brain stimulation might help restore procedural memory function.
The cerebellum and procedural memory work together to give you the amazing ability to learn and perform complex motor skills automatically. From riding a bike to playing a musical instrument, these systems allow you to master skills that become second nature. Understanding how they work not only helps us appreciate the incredible complexity of the human brain but also provides practical insights for learning, teaching and recovery from brain injuries.
Remember, every time you practice a skill, you're strengthening the neural pathways in your cerebellum. So whether you're learning to play guitar, perfecting your football skills, or mastering a new video game, you're literally reshaping your brain to become more skilled and coordinated.