Somatosensory evoked magnetic fields arising from sources in the human cerebellum

Somatosensory evoked neuromagnetic activity of human cerebellum was recorded noninvasively with a 122-channel whole-scalp magnetometer. Cerebellar source areas activated 13-19 ms after unilateral electric stimulation of the median nerve. The first signals preceded those occurring in the primary sensorimotor cortex at around 20 ms and overlapped in time with the activation of thalamic sources. The orientation and location of most prominent cerebellar activation suggest that the detected signals represent synchronized postsynaptic activity of spinocerebellar cortex. These signals are probably elicited by the first afferent sensory volley from peripheral nerve endings and mediated by spinocerebellar (cuneocerebellar) tracts. The results imply strong coherent activation of cerebellar neuronal populations after purely sensory stimulation. Moreover, with presented methods the millisecond-scale temporal resolution of neurophysiological measurements can be more generally applied to the study of neuronal population activity in intact human cerebellum.