Have you ever heard that saying, “You never forget how to ride a bicycle”?
You might have experienced it when picking up a bicycle after months of not using it. When you start cycling, you don’t hesitate. You pick up right where you ended. No biggie. The same applies to knitting, crochet and pretty much any other activity which involves the cerebellum.
Let’s slow down for a moment. Firstly, what is the cerebellum? Let’s take a look at this midsagittal section of the brain to understand:
See that little cauliflower clinging onto the brain? In its bottom-left region? Here’s a close-up.
This mound of flesh and neurons is the cerebellum. The cerebellum is responsible for a handy function called “motor learning”.
Essentially, as you learn a new movement, such as cycling, the cerebellum learns with you.
How do we know this?
A study regarding cerebellar learning was taken at John Hopkins University, in which a sample walked on a regular treadmill. Everything worked out fine, until the researchers changed the direction of one of the legs. So, one leg was walking forward, while the other one walked backward! The interesting part was that, in spite of the changes, people could walk just fine. There was one exception, though: people with cerebellar damage. This group of people couldn’t walk properly after the changes.
This study showed that if one has cerebellar damage, they cannot learn new movements such as walking in different directions. This proves that the cerebellum helps us learn new movements!
Cover picture credits: https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1200/1*UBEYcU12kG7gRRcaH3ZB1Q.jpeg
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