![Sleuthing the Cerebellum]()
The brain’s cerebellum is best known for coordinating voluntary movements such as posture, balance and speech. More recently, the cerebellum has also been linked to mental health disorders such as autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia and addiction, although how it contributes to these problems is poorly understood. The National Institute of Mental Health has awarded Kamran Khodakhah, Ph.D., a five-year, $2.8 million grant to investigate the relationship between the cerebellum and mental health disorders. Dr. Khodakhah has identified two specific pathways by which the cerebellum comes in contact with other parts of the brain to influence social behavior. He and his team will look for defects in those pathways that could reveal how the cerebellum contributes to mental health disorders. Dr. Khodakhah is professor and chair of the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience and the Florence and Irving Rubinstein Chair in Neuroscience. (1R01MH115604-01A1)
Posted on: Friday, July 27, 2018