The overall aim of my research is to understand the contributions the mammalian cerebellum makes to the control of voluntary limb movements.

The cerebellum is the largest motor structure within the brain and to succeed in this aim would substantially increase knowledge of the way in which movements are controlled, as well as shed light on the functional organization of a major neural structure and the pathways linking it to other parts of the nervous system.

In particular, the climbing fibre pathways connecting the inferior olive (a brainstem nucleus) to the cerebellum play a vital but enigmatic role in the regulation of movements. In the short to medium term a key aim of my work is to test and refine the hypothesis that these connections provide 'error signals' to the cerebellum during performance of both new and well-rehearsed movements.

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