cerebellumit
Cerebellumit is a synthetic neuroactive compound developed to target cerebellar dysfunctions such as ataxia and certain movement disorders. It was first synthesized in the late 2010s by a collaborative effort between neurochemical researchers at the University of Zurich and the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry. Early experiments investigated its ability to modulate Purkinje cell signaling, which are the principal inhibitory neurons of the cerebellar cortex. The initial studies were published in the Journal of Neuroscience Research in 2020, indicating that cerebellumit selectively binds to the metabotropic glutamate receptor type 1 (mGluR1) located on Purkinje cells, thereby enhancing inhibitory neurotransmission and reducing cerebellar hyperexcitability.
Mechanistically, cerebellumit functions as a positive allosteric modulator of mGluR1. By binding to a distinct site
Clinical applications of cerebellumit are still in the experimental phase, although Phase I trials in patients with