The Role of the Cerebellum in Unconscious and Conscious Processing of Emotions: A Review
1
Ataxia Laboratory, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy
2
Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy
3
Ph.D. Program in Behavioral Neuroscience, Sapienza University of Rome, Via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Rome, Italy
4
Neuroimaging Laboratory, Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy
5
Neurorehabilitation 1 and Spinal Center, Robotic Neurorehabilitation Lab, IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation, Via Ardeatina 306, 00179 Rome, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Peter Walla
Appl. Sci. 2017, 7(5), 521; https://doi.org/10.3390/app7050521
Received: 30 January 2017 / Revised: 9 May 2017 / Accepted: 12 May 2017 / Published: 17 May 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sub- and Unconscious Information Processing in the Human Brain)
Studies from the past three decades have demonstrated that there is cerebellar involvement in the emotional domain. Emotional processing in humans requires both unconscious and conscious mechanisms. A significant amount of evidence indicates that the cerebellum is one of the cerebral structures that subserve emotional processing, although conflicting data has been reported on its function in unconscious and conscious mechanisms. This review discusses the available clinical, neuroimaging, and neurophysiological data on this issue. We also propose a model in which the cerebellum acts as a mediator between the internal state and external environment for the unconscious and conscious levels of emotional processing.
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Keywords:
cerebellum; emotions; affects; conscious; unconscious; psychopathology
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Clausi, S.; Iacobacci, C.; Lupo, M.; Olivito, G.; Molinari, M.; Leggio, M. The Role of the Cerebellum in Unconscious and Conscious Processing of Emotions: A Review. Appl. Sci. 2017, 7, 521.
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