Cerebellum and emotions: a new pathway
by Catarina Padilla
Being a new master student is not easy; finding an internship along with it makes it even harder. However, the English Neuroscience and Cognition student, Haydn Merle found his spot and is excited for the project he is about to start on how emotions and the cerebellum are connected.
Originally from Newcastle, England, Haydn Merle moved to Utrecht to start his Master in Neuroscience and Cognition. Being an international during Corona was not an easy task, and finding a spot for his major internship was challenging. Fortunately, while having his mandatory classes, the British watched a lecture from Dr Dennis Schutter and immediately knew he would like to work with him.
The project Haydn is now involved started with Dennis Schutter, one of the professors at Utrecht 木瓜福利影视. Dr Dennis is responsible for finding a direct pathway between the cerebellum and the hypothalamus, showing that the cerebellum is involved in motor functions and plays an essential role in emotional control and emotional response. Haydn, interested in social cognition, specifically on how social interactions are influenced by cognitive processes such as perception, saw himself working along with Dennis and investigating how this correlation happens.
Haydn could not be more excited. "In my project, I will use face perception to understand, as a source of emotion sensory stimuli, what effects the cerebellum has on social cognition, especially in relation to angry and threatening stimuli". In sum, Haydn will try to understand how the cerebellum helps the body react to dangerous stimuli and how the signals are sent. With the help of non-invasive brain stimulation, a widely used technique that excites parts of the brain from the skull to the inside, he will stimulate specific parts of the cerebellum to understand how it is activated and how it modulates emotion.
In my project, I will use face perception to understand, as a source of emotion sensory stimuli, what effects the cerebellum has on social cognition, especially in relation to angry and threatening stimuli.
"Over the past years, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) has been done to stimulate the cerebellum and increase people's mood in depression and bipolar disorders. So might be used as a treatment later on, in people with psychiatric disorders". Haydn believes that the cerebellum's importance is essential. Furthermore, apart from being associated with motor functions, it is clear that it can play a vital role in the future of different disorder treatments.
Over the past years, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) has been done to stimulate the cerebellum and increase people's mood in depression and bipolar disorders. So might be used as a treatment later on, in people with psychiatric disorders.
In the end, Haydn is happy to have found this project, which he embraces with much enthusiasm. Considering the energy he is putting into, the results will only appear within the next nine months, but it will be innovative for sure.