An introduction to journal club in The Cerebellum.

The cerebellum shapes motor function by controlling coor-dination, balance, and learning. Recently, imaging and be-havior studies have demonstrated that the cerebellum alsoparticipates in non-motor functions by modulating lan-guage, emotion, and cognition. Driving the field is now anexciting interplay between these basic science studies and arapidly growing translational research literature showingthat defects in cerebellar function contribute to a variety ofbrain conditions such as ataxia, dystonia, tremor, multiplesclerosis, and autism spectrum disorders. Realizing thebreadth and exponential pace at which cerebellar researchis advancing, The Cerebellum editorial team decided toharness this momentum in discovery and develop a newforum to promote ideas, critical thinking, and collaborationin cerebellar research. We developed a new section in TheCerebellum devoted to journal club articles to review anddiscuss recent groundbreaking work in the field. We aredelighted to announce that our inaugural article upholdsour vision [1]. Postdoctoral fellows Dr. Stacey L. Reeber(Baylor College of Medicine, TX) and Dr. Kevin O’Dono-van (Weill Cornell Medical Center, NY) have published anexcellent journal club paper discussing the work of devel-opmental biologist and pioneer molecular geneticist Dr.Alexandra L. Joyner (Sloan-Kettering Institute, NY) [2].This journal club paper focused the spotlight on the originsof cerebellar lineages and highlighted how embryonic genefunction determines adult circuit diversity.Dr. Roy V. Sillitoe, editor for the Neural Developmentsection of the journal, will also serve as the editor for journalclub submissions. We invite manuscripts from postdoctoralfellows, graduate students, residents, and fellows in allareas of cerebellar research, including but not limited todevelopment, genetics, genomics, electrophysiology, imag-ing, computation, anatomy, neuropathology, neurology, andneurosurgery. We encourage authors to discuss, compare,and contrast between model organisms such as rodents,Drosophila, Caenorhabditis elegans, chick, and primate.Given the interconnectivity of the cerebellum with dozensof regions in the brain and spinal cord, we are also happy toconsider “systems” level papers that deal with brain networkconnections with cerebellar involvement. Authors shouldhighlight the technical and conceptual advances of the pub-lication(s) they have chosen and discuss new directions ofresearch that were (or will be) stimulated by the results.Although we encourage authors to be honest and critical,all opinions and statements (both in the manuscript and inresponses to reviewers) must be diplomatic and free ofpersonal attacks. Manuscripts should be written in Englishand follow the submission guidelines of The Cerebellum(http://www.springer.com/biomed/neuroscience/journal/12311). Submittedmanuscriptswillbepeerreviewedforqual-ityandaccuracy.AcceptedpaperswillbearchivedinPubMed.In closing, we are thrilled to devote an entire section ofour journal to the cultivation of dialogue initiated by post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, residents, and fellows.Please contact Dr.Sillitoewith questions andinquiriesaboutyour idea for a journal club article.References