Human cerebellum and social navigation: cerebello-cerebral connectivity using dynamic causal modelling

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Social Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• Social navigation relies on mentalizing goals and preferences within complex environments.
• The posterior cerebellum is vital for social behavior and navigation, but its cerebello-cerebral pathways are understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the role of cerebello-cerebral pathways in social navigation.
• To examine how connectivity between the cerebellum and cortical mentalizing areas changes during social navigation, particularly in response to social norm violations.

Main Methods:

• Employed Dynamic Causal Modelling (DCM) on data from four social navigation studies (N=107).
• Analyzed functional connectivity between cerebellar Crus 2 and cortical areas (temporoparietal junction, precuneus, medial prefrontal cortex).
• Investigated modulations based on active vs. passive observation and social vs. non-social sequences.

Main Results:

• Identified extensive bidirectional connections between cerebellar Crus 2 and key mentalizing regions (temporoparietal junction, precuneus, medial prefrontal cortex), both ipsilaterally and contralaterally.
• Observed minimal modulation of connectivity by active encoding or social vs. non-social contexts.
• Found significant changes in connectivity during social norm violations: increased right Crus 2 to ventral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and precuneus to left Crus 2 connectivity, alongside decreased left Crus 2 to ventral mPFC connectivity.

Conclusions:

• The cerebellum, via cerebello-cerebral pathways, plays a significant role in social navigation and behavior regulation.
• Connectivity patterns dynamically adjust in response to social norm violations, highlighting the cerebellum's adaptive function in social cognition.