Mathematicians, control engineers and information technologists are beginning to take a greater interest in neuroscience. They are perhaps starting to realize that they may be able to learn a few tricks from nature with which to improve their machines. At the same time there is a good chance that neuroscientists will benefit from their input of fresh ideas and techniques with which to attack the problems of understanding neural processing. One area of the brain which seems particularly promising in these respects is the cerebellum.