Feindel Brain and Mind Series: Cerebellum in Error & Feedback Processing

The Cerebellum’s Role in Error and Feedback Processing: Evidence From Patient Studies, Neuroimaging, and Neuromodulation

Abstract: To survive and thrive in our ever-changing environment, humans need to be able to predict the consequences of their actions, which requires close monitoring of behavior and its outcomes. Along these lines, error and feedback processing are essential for adaptive control of behavior. Recent work suggests that the cerebellum plays an important role in error and feedback processing. In this lecture, recent work supporting and extending this notion will be presented. A series of experiments were performed using different models of cerebellar dysfunction, i.e., patients with cerebellar damage (stroke or cerebellar degeneration) and cerebellar neuromodulation by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which were combined with classic experimental paradigms assessing error and feedback processing (Eriksen Flanker task; probabilistic feedback learning task) and neuroimaging (electroencephalography, EEG; structural MRI for lesion mapping). In brief, these experiments provided strong, causal evidence for involvement of the human cerebellum in error processing and in the processing of prediction errors (PE) in feedback-based learning in humans. Cerebellar prediction processes appear to be at the core of its involvement in adaptive control of behavior.

Bio: Jutta Peterburs is a full professor of Medical Psychology at MSH Medical School Hamburg, Germany. She completed a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Psychology with a focus on Cognitive Neuroscience at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, before pursuing doctoral studies in the Department of Neuropsychology at Ruhr University Bochum. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Ruhr University Bochum and went on to complete postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, USA, the University of Muenster, Germany, and the University of Duesseldorf, Germany. Her research focuses on the neural underpinnings of performance monitoring and the exogenous and endogenous factors that influence processes such as error and feedback processing. She is particularly interested in the role of the cerebellum in performance monitoring and has long been fascinated by its non-motor functions. Outside of the lab, she is an avid beach volleyball player and long-distance runner, both of which provide a welcome counterbalance to long hours spent at the computer.

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