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Schreurs BG, O'Dell DE, Wang D. The Role of Cerebellar Intrinsic Neuronal Excitability, Synaptic Plasticity, and Perineuronal Nets in Eyeblink Conditioning. BIOLOGY 2024; 13:200. [PMID: 38534469 DOI: 10.3390/biology13030200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2024] [Revised: 02/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
Evidence is strong that, in addition to fine motor control, there is an important role for the cerebellum in cognition and emotion. The deep nuclei of the mammalian cerebellum also contain the highest density of perineural nets-mesh-like structures that surround neurons-in the brain, and it appears there may be a connection between these nets and cognitive processes, particularly learning and memory. Here, we review how the cerebellum is involved in eyeblink conditioning-a particularly well-understood form of learning and memory-and focus on the role of perineuronal nets in intrinsic membrane excitability and synaptic plasticity that underlie eyeblink conditioning. We explore the development and role of perineuronal nets and the in vivo and in vitro evidence that manipulations of the perineuronal net in the deep cerebellar nuclei affect eyeblink conditioning. Together, these findings provide evidence of an important role for perineuronal net in learning and memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernard G Schreurs
- Department of Neuroscience, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
| | - Deidre E O'Dell
- Department of Biology, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Pennsylvania Western (PennWest) University, California, PA 15419, USA
| | - Desheng Wang
- Department of Neuroscience, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
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2
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Keifer J. Synaptic Mechanisms of Delay Eyeblink Classical Conditioning: AMPAR Trafficking and Gene Regulation in an In Vitro Model. Mol Neurobiol 2023; 60:7088-7103. [PMID: 37531025 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-023-03528-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023]
Abstract
An in vitro model of delay eyeblink classical conditioning was developed to investigate synaptic plasticity mechanisms underlying acquisition of associative learning. This was achieved by replacing real stimuli, such as an airpuff and tone, with patterned stimulation of the cranial nerves using an isolated brainstem preparation from turtle. Here, our primary findings regarding cellular and molecular mechanisms for learning acquisition using this unique approach are reviewed. The neural correlate of the in vitro eyeblink response is a replica of the actual behavior, and features of conditioned responses (CRs) resemble those observed in behavioral studies. Importantly, it was shown that acquisition of CRs did not require the intact cerebellum, but the appropriate timing did. Studies of synaptic mechanisms indicate that conditioning involves two stages of AMPA receptor (AMPAR) trafficking. Initially, GluA1-containing AMPARs are targeted to synapses followed later by replacement by GluA4 subunits that support CR expression. This two-stage process is regulated by specific signal transduction cascades involving PKA and PKC and is guided by distinct protein chaperones. The expression of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protein is central to AMPAR trafficking and conditioning. BDNF gene expression is regulated by coordinated epigenetic mechanisms involving DNA methylation/demethylation and chromatin modifications that control access of promoters to transcription factors. Finally, a hypothesis is proposed that learning genes like BDNF are poised by dual chromatin features that allow rapid activation or repression in response to environmental stimuli. These in vitro studies have advanced our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underlie associative learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joyce Keifer
- Neuroscience Group, Division of Basic Biomedical Sciences, Sanford School of Medicine, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD, 57069, USA.
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3
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Gruart A, Delgado-García JM. Neural bases of freedom and responsibility. Front Neural Circuits 2023; 17:1191996. [PMID: 37334060 PMCID: PMC10272542 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2023.1191996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023] Open
Abstract
This review presents a broad perspective of the Neuroscience of our days with special attention to how the brain generates our behaviors, emotions, and mental states. It describes in detail how unconscious and conscious processing of sensorimotor and mental information takes place in our brains. Likewise, classic and recent experiments illustrating the neuroscientific foundations regarding the behavioral and cognitive abilities of animals and, in particular, of human beings are described. Special attention is applied to the description of the different neural regulatory systems dealing with behavioral, cognitive, and emotional functions. Finally, the brain process for decision-making, and its relationship with individual free will and responsibility, are also described.
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4
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Todd NPM, Govender S, Keller PE, Colebatch JG. Electrophysiological activity from over the cerebellum and cerebrum during eye blink conditioning in human subjects. Physiol Rep 2023; 11:e15642. [PMID: 36971094 PMCID: PMC10041378 DOI: 10.14814/phy2.15642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2023] [Revised: 02/22/2023] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
We report the results of an experiment in which electrophysiological activity was recorded from the human cerebellum and cerebrum in a sample of 14 healthy subjects before, during and after a classical eye blink conditioning procedure with an auditory tone as conditional stimulus and a maxillary nerve unconditional stimulus. The primary aim was to show changes in the cerebellum and cerebrum correlated with behavioral ocular responses. Electrodes recorded EMG and EOG at peri-ocular sites, EEG from over the frontal eye-fields and the electrocerebellogram (ECeG) from over the posterior fossa. Of the 14 subjects half strongly conditioned while the other half were resistant. We confirmed that conditionability was linked under our conditions to the personality dimension of extraversion-introversion. Inhibition of cerebellar activity was shown prior to the conditioned response, as predicted by Albus (1971). However, pausing in high frequency ECeG and the appearance of a contingent negative variation (CNV) in both central leads occurred in all subjects. These led us to conclude that while conditioned cerebellar pausing may be necessary, it is not sufficient alone to produce overt behavioral conditioning, implying the existence of another central mechanism. The outcomes of this experiment indicate the potential value of the noninvasive electrophysiology of the cerebellum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neil P M Todd
- Department of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
- School of Clinical Medicine, Randwick Campus, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Sendhil Govender
- School of Clinical Medicine, Randwick Campus, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Neuroscience Research Australia, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Peter E Keller
- MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - James G Colebatch
- School of Clinical Medicine, Randwick Campus, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Neuroscience Research Australia, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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5
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Parras GG, Leal-Campanario R, López-Ramos JC, Gruart A, Delgado-García JM. Functional properties of eyelid conditioned responses and involved brain centers. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:1057251. [PMID: 36570703 PMCID: PMC9780278 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.1057251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 11/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
For almost a century the classical conditioning of nictitating membrane/eyelid responses has been used as an excellent and feasible experimental model to study how the brain organizes the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of new motor abilities in alert behaving mammals, including humans. Lesional, pharmacological, and electrophysiological approaches, and more recently, genetically manipulated animals have shown the involvement of numerous brain areas in this apparently simple example of associative learning. In this regard, the cerebellum (both cortex and nuclei) has received particular attention as a putative site for the acquisition and storage of eyelid conditioned responses, a proposal not fully accepted by all researchers. Indeed, the acquisition of this type of learning implies the activation of many neural processes dealing with the sensorimotor integration and the kinematics of the acquired ability, as well as with the attentional and cognitive aspects also involved in this process. Here, we address specifically the functional roles of three brain structures (red nucleus, cerebellar interpositus nucleus, and motor cortex) mainly involved in the acquisition and performance of eyelid conditioned responses and three other brain structures (hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex, and claustrum) related to non-motor aspects of the acquisition process. The main conclusion is that the acquisition of this motor ability results from the contribution of many cortical and subcortical brain structures each one involved in specific (motor and cognitive) aspects of the learning process.
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6
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López-Ramos JC, Delgado-García JM. Role of the motor cortex in the generation of classically conditioned eyelid and vibrissae responses. Sci Rep 2021; 11:16701. [PMID: 34404871 PMCID: PMC8371024 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-96153-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The eyelid motor system has been used for years as an experimental model for studying the neuronal mechanisms underlying motor and cognitive learning, mainly with classical conditioning procedures. Nonetheless, it is not known yet which brain structures, or neuronal mechanisms, are responsible for the acquisition, storage, and expression of these motor responses. Here, we studied the temporal correlation between unitary activities of identified eyelid and vibrissae motor cortex neurons and the electromyographic activity of the orbicularis oculi and vibrissae muscles and magnetically recorded eyelid positions during classical conditioning of eyelid and vibrissae responses, using both delay and trace conditioning paradigms in behaving mice. We also studied the involvement of motor cortex neurons in reflexively evoked eyelid responses and the kinematics and oscillatory properties of eyelid movements evoked by motor cortex microstimulation. Results show the involvement of the motor cortex in the performance of conditioned responses elicited during the classical conditioning task. However, a timing correlation analysis showed that both electromyographic activities preceded the firing of motor cortex neurons, which must therefore be related more with the reinforcement and/or proper performance of the conditioned responses than with their acquisition and storage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan C López-Ramos
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Cellular Biology, Division of Neurosciences, Pablo de Olavide University, 41013, Seville, Spain.
| | - José M Delgado-García
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Cellular Biology, Division of Neurosciences, Pablo de Olavide University, 41013, Seville, Spain
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7
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Changes in cerebellar intrinsic neuronal excitability and synaptic plasticity result from eyeblink conditioning. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2019; 166:107094. [PMID: 31542329 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2019.107094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2019] [Revised: 08/27/2019] [Accepted: 09/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
There is a long history of research documenting plasticity in the cerebellum as well as the role of the cerebellum in learning and memory. Recordings in slices of cerebellum have provided evidence of long-term depression and long-term potentiation at several excitatory and inhibitory synapses. Lesions and recordings show the cerebellum is crucial for eyeblink conditioning and it appears changes in both synaptic and membrane plasticity are involved. In addition to its role in fine motor control, there is growing consensus that the cerebellum is crucial for perceptual, cognitive, and emotional functions. In the current review, we explore the evidence that eyeblink conditioning results in significant changes in intrinsic membrane excitability as well as synaptic plasticity in Purkinje cells of the cerebellar cortex in rabbits and changes in intrinsic membrane excitability in principal neurons of the deep cerebellar nuclei in rats.
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8
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López-Ramos JC, Houdek Z, Cendelín J, Vožeh F, Delgado-García JM. Timing correlations between cerebellar interpositus neuronal firing and classically conditioned eyelid responses in wild-type and Lurcher mice. Sci Rep 2018; 8:10697. [PMID: 30013234 PMCID: PMC6048028 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-29000-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2018] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Classical eyeblink conditioning is an experimental model widely used for the study of the neuronal mechanisms underlying the acquisition of new motor and cognitive skills. There are two principal interpretations of the role of the cerebellum in the learning of eyelid conditioned responses (CRs). One considers that the cerebellum is the place where this learning is acquired and stored, while the second suggests that the cerebellum is mostly involved in the proper performance of acquired CRs, implying that there must be other brain areas involved in the learning process. We checked the timing of cerebellar interpositus nucleus (IPN) neurons’ firing rate with eyelid CRs in both wild-type (WT) and Lurcher (a model of cerebellar cortex degeneration) mice. We used delay and trace conditioning paradigms. WT mice presented a better execution for delay vs. trace conditioning and also for these two paradigms than did Lurcher mice. IPN neurons were activated during CRs following the activation of the orbicularis oculi muscle. Firing patterns of IPN neurons were altered in Lurcher mice. In conclusion, the cerebellum seems to be mostly related with the performance of conditioned responses, rather than with their acquisition.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Zbynek Houdek
- Department of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University, Pilsen, Czech Republic.,Department of Biology, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University, Pilsen, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Cendelín
- Department of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University, Pilsen, Czech Republic.,Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University, Pilsen, Czech Republic
| | - Frantisek Vožeh
- Department of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University, Pilsen, Czech Republic.,Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University, Pilsen, Czech Republic
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Abstract
Several lines of evidence show that classical or Pavlovian conditioning of blink responses depends on the cerebellum. Recordings from cerebellar Purkinje cells that control the eyelid and the conditioned blink show that during training with a conditioning protocol, a Purkinje cell develops a pause response to the conditional stimulus. This conditioned cellular response has many of the properties that characterise the overt blink. The present paper argues that the learned Purkinje cell pause response is the memory trace and main driver of the overt conditioned blink and that it explains many well-known behavioural phenomena.
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10
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Delgado-García JM, Gruart A. Learning as a Functional State of the Brain: Studies in Wild-Type and Transgenic Animals. ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2017; 1015:75-93. [PMID: 29080022 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62817-2_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
Contemporary neuroscientists are paying increasing attention to subcellular, molecular, and electrophysiological mechanisms underlying learning and memory processes. Recent studies have examined the development of transgenic mice affected at different stages of the learning process, or have emulated in animals various human pathological conditions involving cognition and motor learning. However, a parallel effort is needed to develop stimulating and recording techniques suitable for use in behaving mice in order to understand activity-dependent synaptic changes taking place during the very moment of the learning process. The in vivo models should incorporate information collected from different molecular and in vitro approaches. Long-term potentiation (LTP) has been proposed as the neural mechanism underlying synaptic plasticity, and NMDA receptors have been proposed as the molecular substrate of LTP. It now seems necessary to study the relationship of both LTP and NMDA receptors to functional changes in synaptic efficiency taking place during actual learning in selected cerebral cortical structures. Here, we review data collected in our laboratory during the past 10 years on the involvement of different hippocampal synapses in the acquisition of the classically conditioned eyelid responses in behaving mice. Overall the results indicate a specific contribution of each cortical synapse to the acquisition and storage of new motor and cognitive abilities. Available data show that LTP, evoked by high-frequency stimulation of Schaffer collaterals, disturbs both the acquisition of conditioned eyelid responses and the physiological changes that occur at hippocampal synapses during learning. Moreover, the administration of NMDA-receptor antagonists is able not only to prevent LTP induction in vivo, but also to hinder both the formation of conditioned eyelid responses and functional changes in the strength of the CA3-CA1 synapse. Nevertheless, many other neurotransmitter receptors, intracellular mediators, and transcription factors are also involved in learning and memory processes. In summary, it can be proposed that learning and memory in behaving mammals are the result of the activation of complex and distributed functional states involving many different cerebral cortical synapses, with the participation also of various neurotransmitter systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- José M Delgado-García
- Division of Neurosciences, Pablo de Olavide University, Ctra. de Utrera, Km. 1, Seville, 41013, Spain.
| | - Agnès Gruart
- Division of Neurosciences, Pablo de Olavide University, Ctra. de Utrera, Km. 1, Seville, 41013, Spain
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11
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Cheron G, Márquez-Ruiz J, Dan B. Oscillations, Timing, Plasticity, and Learning in the Cerebellum. THE CEREBELLUM 2016; 15:122-38. [PMID: 25808751 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-015-0665-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
The highly stereotyped, crystal-like architecture of the cerebellum has long served as a basis for hypotheses with regard to the function(s) that it subserves. Historically, most clinical observations and experimental work have focused on the involvement of the cerebellum in motor control, with particular emphasis on coordination and learning. Two main models have been suggested to account for cerebellar functioning. According to Llinás's theory, the cerebellum acts as a control machine that uses the rhythmic activity of the inferior olive to synchronize Purkinje cell populations for fine-tuning of coordination. In contrast, the Ito-Marr-Albus theory views the cerebellum as a motor learning machine that heuristically refines synaptic weights of the Purkinje cell based on error signals coming from the inferior olive. Here, we review the role of timing of neuronal events, oscillatory behavior, and synaptic and non-synaptic influences in functional plasticity that can be recorded in awake animals in various physiological and pathological models in a perspective that also includes non-motor aspects of cerebellar function. We discuss organizational levels from genes through intracellular signaling, synaptic network to system and behavior, as well as processes from signal production and processing to memory, delegation, and actual learning. We suggest an integrative concept for control and learning based on articulated oscillation templates.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Cheron
- Laboratory of Electrophysiology, Université de Mons, 7000, Mons, Belgium. .,Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP640, 1070, Brussels, Belgium.
| | - J Márquez-Ruiz
- División de Neurociencias, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013, Seville, Spain
| | - B Dan
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP640, 1070, Brussels, Belgium.,Department of Neurology, Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1020, Brussels, Belgium
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12
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Madroñal N, Delgado-García JM, Fernández-Guizán A, Chatterjee J, Köhn M, Mattucci C, Jain A, Tsetsenis T, Illarionova A, Grinevich V, Gross CT, Gruart A. Rapid erasure of hippocampal memory following inhibition of dentate gyrus granule cells. Nat Commun 2016; 7:10923. [PMID: 26988806 PMCID: PMC4802048 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2015] [Accepted: 01/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The hippocampus is critical for the acquisition and retrieval of episodic and contextual memories. Lesions of the dentate gyrus, a principal input of the hippocampus, block memory acquisition, but it remains unclear whether this region also plays a role in memory retrieval. Here we combine cell-type specific neural inhibition with electrophysiological measurements of learning-associated plasticity in behaving mice to demonstrate that dentate gyrus granule cells are not required for memory retrieval, but instead have an unexpected role in memory maintenance. Furthermore, we demonstrate the translational potential of our findings by showing that pharmacological activation of an endogenous inhibitory receptor expressed selectively in dentate gyrus granule cells can induce a rapid loss of hippocampal memory. These findings open a new avenue for the targeted erasure of episodic and contextual memories. Dentate gyrus (DG) is critical for memory formation in the hippocampus but its role in memory retrieval is unclear. Here, Gross and colleagues, show that granule cells in DG are not required for memory retrieval but for maintenance, and inhibiting them with a drug leads to rapid loss of memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noelia Madroñal
- Mouse Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), via Ramarini 32, Monterotondo 00015, Italy.,Division of Neuroscience, University Pablo Olavide, Carretera de Utrera-km 1, Sevilla 41013, Spain
| | - José M Delgado-García
- Division of Neuroscience, University Pablo Olavide, Carretera de Utrera-km 1, Sevilla 41013, Spain
| | - Azahara Fernández-Guizán
- Division of Neuroscience, University Pablo Olavide, Carretera de Utrera-km 1, Sevilla 41013, Spain
| | - Jayanta Chatterjee
- Genome Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Maja Köhn
- Genome Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Camilla Mattucci
- Mouse Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), via Ramarini 32, Monterotondo 00015, Italy
| | - Apar Jain
- Mouse Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), via Ramarini 32, Monterotondo 00015, Italy
| | - Theodoros Tsetsenis
- Mouse Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), via Ramarini 32, Monterotondo 00015, Italy
| | - Anna Illarionova
- Schaller Research Group on Neuropeptides, German Cancer Research Center DKFZ, Central Institute of Mental Health, CellNetwork Cluster of Excellence, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 581, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Valery Grinevich
- Schaller Research Group on Neuropeptides, German Cancer Research Center DKFZ, Central Institute of Mental Health, CellNetwork Cluster of Excellence, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 581, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Cornelius T Gross
- Mouse Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), via Ramarini 32, Monterotondo 00015, Italy
| | - Agnès Gruart
- Division of Neuroscience, University Pablo Olavide, Carretera de Utrera-km 1, Sevilla 41013, Spain
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Delgado-García JM. Cajal and the Conceptual Weakness of Neural Sciences. Front Neuroanat 2015; 9:128. [PMID: 26483644 PMCID: PMC4588005 DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2015.00128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2015] [Accepted: 09/16/2015] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The experimental and conceptual contributions of Santiago Ramón y Cajal remain almost as fresh and valuable as when his original proposals were published more than a century ago-a rare example, contrasting with other related sciences. His basic concepts on the neuron as the main building block of the central nervous system, the dynamic polarization principle as a way to understand how neurons deal with ongoing active processes, and brain local structural arrangements as a result of the functional specialization of selected neural circuits are concepts still surviving in present research papers dealing with brain function during the performance of cognitive and/or behavioral activities. What is more, the central dogma of the Neuroscience of today, i.e., brain plasticity as the morpho-functional substrate of memory and learning processes, was already proposed and documented with notable insights by Ramón y Cajal. From this background, I will try to discuss in this chapter which new functional and structural concepts have been introduced in contemporary Neuroscience and how we will be able to construct a set of basic principles underlying brain functions for the twenty-first century.
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14
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Schara U, Busse M, Timmann D, Gerwig M. Cerebellar-dependent associative learning is preserved in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a study using delay eyeblink conditioning. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0126528. [PMID: 25973604 PMCID: PMC4431835 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2015] [Accepted: 04/03/2015] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective Besides progressive muscle weakness cognitive deficits have been reported in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Cerebellar dysfunction has been proposed to explain cognitive deficits at least in part. In animal models of DMD disturbed Purkinje cell function has been shown following loss of dystrophin. Furthermore there is increasing evidence that the lateral cerebellum contributes to cognitive processing. In the present study cerebellar-dependent delay eyeblink conditioning, a form of associative learning, was used to assess cerebellar function in DMD children. Methods Delay eyeblink conditioning was examined in eight genetically defined male patients with DMD and in ten age-matched control subjects. Acquisition, timing and extinction of conditioned eyeblink responses (CR) were assessed during a single conditioning session. Results Both groups showed a significant increase of CRs during the course of learning (block effect p < 0.001). CR acquisition was not impaired in DMD patients (mean total CR incidence 37.4 ± 17.6%) as compared to control subjects (36.2 ± 17.3%; group effect p = 0.89; group by block effect p = 0.38; ANOVA with repeated measures). In addition, CR timing and extinction was not different from controls. Conclusions Delay eyeblink conditioning was preserved in the present DMD patients. Because eyeblink conditioning depends on the integrity of the intermediate cerebellum, this older part of the cerebellum may be relatively preserved in DMD. The present findings agree with animal model data showing that the newer, lateral cerebellum is primarily affected in DMD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulrike Schara
- Department of Neuropediatrics, Developmental Neurology and Social Pediatrics,University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Melanie Busse
- Department of Neuropediatrics, Developmental Neurology and Social Pediatrics,University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Dagmar Timmann
- Department of Neurology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Marcus Gerwig
- Department of Neurology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
- * E-mail:
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15
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Perciavalle V, Apps R, Bracha V, Delgado-García JM, Gibson AR, Leggio M, Carrel AJ, Cerminara N, Coco M, Gruart A, Sánchez-Campusano R. Consensus paper: current views on the role of cerebellar interpositus nucleus in movement control and emotion. THE CEREBELLUM 2014; 12:738-57. [PMID: 23564049 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-013-0464-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
In the present paper, we examine the role of the cerebellar interpositus nucleus (IN) in motor and non-motor domains. Recent findings are considered, and we share the following conclusions: IN as part of the olivo-cortico-nuclear microcircuit is involved in providing powerful timing signals important in coordinating limb movements; IN could participate in the timing and performance of ongoing conditioned responses rather than the generation and/or initiation of such responses; IN is involved in the control of reflexive and voluntary movements in a task- and effector system-dependent fashion, including hand movements and associated upper limb adjustments, for quick effective actions; IN develops internal models for dynamic interactions of the motor system with the external environment for anticipatory control of movement; and IN plays a significant role in the modulation of autonomic and emotional functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincenzo Perciavalle
- Department of Bio-Medical Sciences, Section of Physiology, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125, Catania, Italy.
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16
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Takeda A, Tamano H. Cognitive decline due to excess synaptic Zn(2+) signaling in the hippocampus. Front Aging Neurosci 2014; 6:26. [PMID: 24578691 PMCID: PMC3936311 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2014.00026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2013] [Accepted: 02/13/2014] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Zinc is an essential component of physiological brain function. Vesicular zinc is released from glutamatergic (zincergic) neuron terminals and serves as a signal factor (Zn2+ signal) in both the intracellular (cytosol) compartment and the extracellular compartment. Synaptic Zn2+ signaling is dynamically linked to neurotransmission and is involved in processes of synaptic plasticity such as long-term potentiation and cognitive activity. On the other hand, the activity of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, i.e., glucocorticoid secretion, which can potentiate glutamatergic neuron activity, is linked to cognitive function. HPA axis activity modifies synaptic Zn2+ dynamics at zincergic synapses. An increase in HPA axis activity, which occurs after exposure to stress, may induce excess intracellular Zn2+ signaling in the hippocampus, followed by hippocampus-dependent memory deficit. Excessive excitation of zincergic neurons in the hippocampus can contribute to cognitive decline under stressful and/or pathological conditions. This paper provides an overview of the ``Hypothesis and Theory'' of Zn2+-mediated modification of cognitive activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atsushi Takeda
- Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Haruna Tamano
- Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka Shizuoka, Japan
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17
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Gerwig M, Rauschen L, Gaul C, Katsarava Z, Timmann D. Subclinical cerebellar dysfunction in patients with migraine: evidence from eyeblink conditioning. Cephalalgia 2014; 34:904-13. [PMID: 24567118 DOI: 10.1177/0333102414523844] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Clinical findings suggest cerebellar dysfunction in patients with migraine. Eyeblink classical conditioning (EBCC) is a simple form of associative learning which depends on the integrity of the cerebellum. The aim of this study was to assess whether EBCC is disturbed in patients with migraine. METHODS A delay conditioning paradigm was used in the headache-free interval in 32 female patients with migraine, in 24 of them without (MwoA) and eight with aura (MwA), and in 32 age-matched female controls. As primary outcome measure acquisition and as secondary outcome measures timing and extinction of conditioned eyeblink responses (CR) were assessed. RESULTS CR acquisition was significantly reduced in all migraine patients (mean total CR incidence 35.2 ± 22.1%) compared to controls (54.7 ± 21.3%; p < 0.001; Bonferroni-corrected p level < 0.025) and in MwA patients (19.9 ± 20.2%) compared to matched controls (58.2 ± 27.0%; p = 0.006) but not in MwoA patients (40.3 ± 20.6%) compared to matched controls (53.6 ± 19.7%; p = 0.028; Bonferroni-corrected p level < 0.0166). Decrease of CR incidences in MwA patients was not significantly different compared to MwoA patients (p = 0.021; Bonferroni-corrected p level < 0.0166). CR timing and extinction was not affected in migraine patients. CONCLUSIONS Reduced acquisition of CRs in the cohort of female patients studied here supports findings of a cerebellar dysfunction in migraine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus Gerwig
- Department of Neurology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
| | - Lisa Rauschen
- Department of Neurology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
| | - Charly Gaul
- Department of Neurology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany Migraine and Headache Clinic Königstein, Germany
| | - Zaza Katsarava
- Department of Neurology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany Department of Neurology, Evangelisches Krankenhaus Unna, Germany
| | - Dagmar Timmann
- Department of Neurology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
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18
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Carretero-Guillen A, Pacheco-Calderon R, Delgado-Garcia JM, Gruart A. Involvement of Hippocampal Inputs and Intrinsic Circuit in the Acquisition of Context and Cues During Classical Conditioning in Behaving Rabbits. Cereb Cortex 2013; 25:1278-89. [DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bht321] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
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19
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Cheron G, Dan B, Márquez-Ruiz J. Translational approach to behavioral learning: lessons from cerebellar plasticity. Neural Plast 2013; 2013:853654. [PMID: 24319600 PMCID: PMC3844268 DOI: 10.1155/2013/853654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2013] [Accepted: 09/18/2013] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The role of cerebellar plasticity has been increasingly recognized in learning. The privileged relationship between the cerebellum and the inferior olive offers an ideal circuit for attempting to integrate the numerous evidences of neuronal plasticity into a translational perspective. The high learning capacity of the Purkinje cells specifically controlled by the climbing fiber represents a major element within the feed-forward and feedback loops of the cerebellar cortex. Reciprocally connected with the basal ganglia and multimodal cerebral domains, this cerebellar network may realize fundamental functions in a wide range of behaviors. This review will outline the current understanding of three main experimental paradigms largely used for revealing cerebellar functions in behavioral learning: (1) the vestibuloocular reflex and smooth pursuit control, (2) the eyeblink conditioning, and (3) the sensory envelope plasticity. For each of these experimental conditions, we have critically revisited the chain of causalities linking together neural circuits, neural signals, and plasticity mechanisms, giving preference to behaving or alert animal physiology. Namely, recent experimental approaches mixing neural units and local field potentials recordings have demonstrated a spike timing dependent plasticity by which the cerebellum remains at a strategic crossroad for deciphering fundamental and translational mechanisms from cellular to network levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guy Cheron
- Laboratory of Electrophysiology, Université de Mons, 7000 Mons, Belgium
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, CP640, ULB Neuroscience Institut, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1070 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Bernard Dan
- Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Movement Biomechanics, CP640, ULB Neuroscience Institut, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1070 Brussels, Belgium
- Department of Neurology, Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1020 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Javier Márquez-Ruiz
- División de Neurociencias, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
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20
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Functional inactivation of orexin 1 receptors in the cerebellum disrupts trace eyeblink conditioning and local theta oscillations in guinea pigs. Behav Brain Res 2013; 250:114-22. [PMID: 23680162 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2013.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2013] [Revised: 05/01/2013] [Accepted: 05/04/2013] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
The cerebellum plays an essential role in motor learning. Recently, orexins, the newfound lateral hypothalamic neuropeptides, have been found to excite Purkinje cells in the cerebellar cortex and neurons in the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN). However, little is known about their roles in cerebellum-dependent motor learning. Therefore, the present study was designed to investigate the functional significance of hypothalamic orexinergic system during trace eyeblink conditioning, a tractable behavioral model system of cerebellum-dependent motor learning. It was revealed that the orexin 1 receptors (OXR1) were specifically localized on the soma of Purkinje cells and large DCN neurons. Furthermore, interfering with the endogenous orexins' effects on the cerebellum via the selective OXR1 antagonist SB-334867 disrupted the timing rather than the acquisition of trace conditioned eyeblink responses. In addition to the behavioral effects, the SB-334867 prevented the increase in peak amplitude of cerebellar theta oscillations with learning. These results suggest that the endogenous orexins may modulate motor learning via the activation of cerebellar OXR1.
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21
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Synaptic plasticity studies and their applicability in mouse models of neurodegenerative diseases. Transl Neurosci 2013. [DOI: 10.2478/s13380-013-0115-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
AbstractDuring the past few years, there have been many important contributions to the better understanding of the different types of memory and the putative neural structures that generate them. Moreover, various studies on neurodegenerative diseases in human beings have added useful information about learning and memory formation, and about their loss in patients with these disabling diseases. The development of sophisticated pharmacogenetic tools applied to mouse models, reproducing different types of neurodegenerative disease or, at least, some of their main symptoms, has turned out to be extremely useful for the further development of contemporary neuroscience. In addition, ingenious behavioral and electrophysiological approaches have been developed to study the activity-dependent changes in synaptic strength during learning and memory processes in the best possible way — that is, in the alert behaving animal. Collected data from these numerous studies have enabled us to know more about the role of many different molecular components integrating the synaptic cleft, and to draw some conclusions about the concordance between in vitro and in vivo recorded data, and the generalization of the results to other types of learning and/or brain-related structures. As described here, changes in synaptic strength studied in key neural synapses during learning and memory processes in genetically manipulated mice can represent an interesting and powerful approach to the better understanding of neural processes underlying the acquisition of new motor and cognitive abilities and how they are affected by different human diseases involving the neural tissue.
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22
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Orbicularis oculi muscle activation during swallowing in humans. Exp Brain Res 2012; 224:79-91. [DOI: 10.1007/s00221-012-3290-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2012] [Accepted: 09/25/2012] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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23
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Dynamic changes in the cerebellar-interpositus/red-nucleus-motoneuron pathway during motor learning. THE CEREBELLUM 2012; 10:702-10. [PMID: 21181461 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-010-0242-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the role played by the cerebellum in the genesis and control of learned motor responses requires a precise knowledge of interdependent relationships between kinetic neural commands and the performance (kinematics) of the acquired movements. The eyelid motor system is a useful model for studying how simple motor responses are generated and performed. Here, we recorded the activity of interpositus, red nucleus, and/or facial motor neurons during classical eyeblink conditioning, using a delay paradigm. Experiments were carried out in behaving cats, and in conscious wild-type and (Purkinje cell devoid) Lurcher mice. Kinetic variables were determined by recording the firing activities of identified neurons at the mentioned nuclei, whilst kinematic variables were selected from the electromyographic activity of the orbicularis oculi muscle and/or from eyelid position recorded during the conditioned-stimulus/unconditioned-stimulus interval. Whereas motoneurons encoded eyelid kinematics for acquired eyelid responses, interpositus, and red nucleus neurons did not directly encode eyelid performance, and the dynamic association between their neuronal activities was barely significant (from moderate to weak correlation, nonlinear coupling with high asymmetry, and neural firing activities that always lagged the beginning of the conditioned response). Nevertheless, interpositus and red nucleus neurons seem to play a modulating role in the dynamic control of this type of learned motor response, and present interesting adaptive properties in Lurcher mice. The analytical procedures proposed here could be very helpful in defining the functional state corresponding to each stage across the acquisition of new motor and cognitive abilities.
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24
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Manto M, Bower JM, Conforto AB, Delgado-García JM, da Guarda SNF, Gerwig M, Habas C, Hagura N, Ivry RB, Mariën P, Molinari M, Naito E, Nowak DA, Oulad Ben Taib N, Pelisson D, Tesche CD, Tilikete C, Timmann D. Consensus paper: roles of the cerebellum in motor control--the diversity of ideas on cerebellar involvement in movement. CEREBELLUM (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2012; 11:457-87. [PMID: 22161499 PMCID: PMC4347949 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-011-0331-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 539] [Impact Index Per Article: 44.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Considerable progress has been made in developing models of cerebellar function in sensorimotor control, as well as in identifying key problems that are the focus of current investigation. In this consensus paper, we discuss the literature on the role of the cerebellar circuitry in motor control, bringing together a range of different viewpoints. The following topics are covered: oculomotor control, classical conditioning (evidence in animals and in humans), cerebellar control of motor speech, control of grip forces, control of voluntary limb movements, timing, sensorimotor synchronization, control of corticomotor excitability, control of movement-related sensory data acquisition, cerebro-cerebellar interaction in visuokinesthetic perception of hand movement, functional neuroimaging studies, and magnetoencephalographic mapping of cortico-cerebellar dynamics. While the field has yet to reach a consensus on the precise role played by the cerebellum in movement control, the literature has witnessed the emergence of broad proposals that address cerebellar function at multiple levels of analysis. This paper highlights the diversity of current opinion, providing a framework for debate and discussion on the role of this quintessential vertebrate structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Manto
- Unité d'Etude du Mouvement, FNRS, ULB Erasme, 808 Route de Lennik, Brussels, Belgium.
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25
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Sánchez-Campusano R, Gruart A, Fernández-Mas R, Delgado-García JM. An agonist-antagonist cerebellar nuclear system controlling eyelid kinematics during motor learning. Front Neuroanat 2012; 6:8. [PMID: 22435053 PMCID: PMC3303085 DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2012.00008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2011] [Accepted: 02/24/2012] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The presence of two antagonistic groups of deep cerebellar nuclei neurons has been reported as necessary for a proper dynamic control of learned motor responses. Most models of cerebellar function seem to ignore the biomechanical need for a double activation–deactivation system controlling eyelid kinematics, since most of them accept that, for closing the eyelid, only the activation of the orbicularis oculi (OO) muscle (via the red nucleus to the facial motor nucleus) is necessary, without a simultaneous deactivation of levator palpebrae motoneurons (via unknown pathways projecting to the perioculomotor area). We have analyzed the kinetic neural commands of two antagonistic types of cerebellar posterior interpositus neuron (IPn) (types A and B), the electromyographic (EMG) activity of the OO muscle, and eyelid kinematic variables in alert behaving cats during classical eyeblink conditioning, using a delay paradigm. We addressed the hypothesis that the interpositus nucleus can be considered an agonist–antagonist system controlling eyelid kinematics during motor learning. To carry out a comparative study of the kinetic–kinematic relationships, we applied timing and dispersion pattern analyses. We concluded that, in accordance with a dominant role of cerebellar circuits for the facilitation of flexor responses, type A neurons fire during active eyelid downward displacements—i.e., during the active contraction of the OO muscle. In contrast, type B neurons present a high tonic rate when the eyelids are wide open, and stop firing during any active downward displacement of the upper eyelid. From a functional point of view, it could be suggested that type B neurons play a facilitative role for the antagonistic action of the levator palpebrae muscle. From an anatomical point of view, the possibility that cerebellar nuclear type B neurons project to the perioculomotor area—i.e., more or less directly onto levator palpebrae motoneurons—is highly appealing.
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26
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Deng S, Yi X, Xin P, Yu D, Wang G, Shen G. Myoelectric signals of levator palpebrae superioris as a trigger for FES to restore the paralyzed eyelid. Med Hypotheses 2012; 78:559-61. [PMID: 22365649 DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2011.12.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2011] [Accepted: 12/21/2011] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Some closed loop FES systems have been designed to restore the blinking function of facial paralysis patients. All of them used myoelectric signal of orbicularis oculi at the normal side as the trigger to stimulate the paralyzed side. They were limited to the one side facial paralysis. Here we proposed that the myoelectric signal of levator palpebrae superioris could be used as the trigger to stimulate the paralyzed orbicularis oculi. Because the levator palpebrae superioris and the innervating nerve are intact, the myoelectric signal of the paralyzed side still could be used as the trigger. It will be more acceptable for the patients and have the potential to resolve the bilateral facial paralysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simin Deng
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Stomatology, No. 639 Zhizaoju Road, Shanghai 200011, China
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27
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Myskiw JC, Izquierdo I. Posterior parietal cortex and long-term memory: some data from laboratory animals. Front Integr Neurosci 2012; 6:8. [PMID: 22375107 PMCID: PMC3287050 DOI: 10.3389/fnint.2012.00008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2012] [Accepted: 02/14/2012] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) was long viewed as just involved in the perception of spatial relationships between the body and its surroundings and of movements related to them. In recent years the PPC has been shown to participate in many other cognitive processes, among which working memory and the consolidation and retrieval of episodic memory. The neurotransmitter and other molecular processes involved have been determined to a degree in rodents. More research will no doubt determine the extent to which these findings can be extrapolated to primates, including humans. In these there appears to be a paradox: imaging studies strongly suggest an important participation of the PPC in episodic memory, whereas lesion studies are much less suggestive, let alone conclusive. The data on the participation of the PPC in episodic memory so far do not permit any conclusion as to what aspect of consolidation and retrieval it handles in addition to those dealt with by the hippocampus and basolateral amygdala, if any.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jociane C Myskiw
- Instituto Nacional de Neurociência Translacional, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Porto Alegre RS, Brazil
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28
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Abstract
A key organisational feature of the cerebellum is its division into a series of cerebellar modules. Each module is defined by its climbing input originating from a well-defined region of the inferior olive, which targets one or more longitudinal zones of Purkinje cells within the cerebellar cortex. In turn, Purkinje cells within each zone project to specific regions of the cerebellar and vestibular nuclei. While much is known about the neuronal wiring of individual cerebellar modules, their behavioural significance remains poorly understood. Here, we briefly review some recent data on the functional role of three different cerebellar modules: the vermal A module, the paravermal C2 module and the lateral D2 module. The available evidence suggests that these modules have some differences in function: the A module is concerned with balance and the postural base for voluntary movements, the C2 module is concerned more with limb control and the D2 module is involved in predicting target motion in visually guided movements. However, these are not likely to be the only functions of these modules and the A and C2 modules are also both concerned with eye and head movements, suggesting that individual cerebellar modules do not necessarily have distinct functions in motor control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadia L. Cerminara
- School of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1TD UK
| | - Richard Apps
- School of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1TD UK
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29
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Tadayonnejad R, Anderson D, Molineux ML, Mehaffey WH, Jayasuriya K, Turner RW. Rebound discharge in deep cerebellar nuclear neurons in vitro. THE CEREBELLUM 2011; 9:352-74. [PMID: 20396983 PMCID: PMC2949560 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-010-0168-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Neurons of the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) play a critical role in defining the output of cerebellum in the course of encoding Purkinje cell inhibitory inputs. The earliest work performed with in vitro preparations established that DCN cells have the capacity to translate membrane hyperpolarizations into a rebound increase in firing frequency. The primary means of distinguishing between DCN neurons has been according to cell size and transmitter phenotype, but in some cases, differences in the firing properties of DCN cells maintained in vitro have been reported. In particular, it was shown that large diameter cells in the rat DCN exhibit two phenotypes of rebound discharge in vitro that may eventually help define their functional roles in cerebellar output. A transient burst and weak burst phenotype can be distinguished based on the frequency and pattern of rebound discharge immediately following a hyperpolarizing stimulus. Work to date indicates that the difference in excitability arises from at least the degree of activation of T-type Ca(2+) current during the immediate phase of rebound firing and Ca(2+)-dependent K(+) channels that underlie afterhyperpolarizations. Both phenotypes can be detected following stimulation of Purkinje cell inhibitory inputs under conditions that preserve resting membrane potential and natural ionic gradients. In this paper, we review the evidence supporting the existence of different rebound phenotypes in DCN cells and the ion channel expression patterns that underlie their generation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reza Tadayonnejad
- Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N 4N1
| | - Dustin Anderson
- Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N 4N1
| | - Michael L. Molineux
- Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N 4N1
| | - W. Hamish Mehaffey
- Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N 4N1
| | - Kusala Jayasuriya
- Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N 4N1
| | - Ray W. Turner
- Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N 4N1
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, HRIC 1AA14, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Dr. N.W., Calgary, Alberta Canada T2N 4N1
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30
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Abstract
The work of recent decades has shown that the nervous system changes continually throughout life. Activity-dependent central nervous system (CNS) plasticity has many different mechanisms and involves essentially every region, from the cortex to the spinal cord. This new knowledge radically changes the challenge of explaining learning and memory and greatly increases the relevance of the spinal cord. The challenge is now to explain how continual and ubiquitous plasticity accounts for the initial acquisition and subsequent stability of many different learned behaviors. The spinal cord has a key role because it is the final common pathway for all behavior and is a site of substantial plasticity. Furthermore, because it is simple, accessible, distant from the rest of the CNS, and directly connected to behavior, the spinal cord is uniquely suited for identifying sites and mechanisms of plasticity and for determining how they account for behavioral change. Experimental models based on spinal cord reflexes facilitate study of the gradual plasticity that makes possible most rapid learning phenomena. These models reveal principles and generate concepts that are likely to apply to learning and memory throughout the CNS. In addition, they offer new approaches to guiding activity-dependent plasticity so as to restore functions lost to injury or disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan R Wolpaw
- Laboratory of Neural Injury and Repair, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Albany, NY 12201-0509, USA.
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31
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Wilber AA, Lin GL, Wellman CL. Neonatal corticosterone administration impairs adult eyeblink conditioning and decreases glucocorticoid receptor expression in the cerebellar interpositus nucleus. Neuroscience 2011; 177:56-65. [PMID: 21223994 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2010] [Revised: 01/04/2011] [Accepted: 01/05/2011] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Neonatal maternal separation alters adult learning and memory. Previously, we showed that neonatal separation impaired eyeblink conditioning in adult rats and increased glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression in the cerebellar interpositus nucleus, a critical site of learning-related plasticity. Daily neonatal separation (1 h/day on postnatal days 2-14) increases neonatal plasma corticosterone levels. Therefore, effects of separation on GR expression in the interpositus and consequently adult eyeblink conditioning may be mediated by neonatal increases in corticosterone. As a first step in exploring a potential role for corticosterone in the neonatal separation effects we observed, we assessed whether systemic daily (postnatal days 2-14) corticosterone injections mimic neonatal separation effects on adult eyeblink conditioning and GR expression in the interpositus. Control uninjected animals were compared to animals receiving either daily corticosterone injections or daily injections of an equal volume of vehicle. Plasma corticosterone values were measured in a separate group of control, neonatally separated, vehicle injected, or corticosterone injected pups. In adulthood, rats underwent surgery for implantation of recording and stimulating electrodes. After recovery from surgery, rats underwent 10 daily sessions of eyeblink conditioning. Then, brains were processed for GR immunohistochemistry and GR expression in the interpositus nucleus was assessed. Vehicle and corticosterone injections both produced much larger increases in neonatal plasma corticosterone than did daily maternal separation, with the largest increases occurring in the corticosterone-injected group. Neonatal corticosterone injections impaired adult eyeblink conditioning and decreased GR expression in the interpositus nucleus, while the effects of vehicle injections were intermediate. Thus, while neonatal injections and maternal separation both produce adult impairments in learning and memory, these manipulations produce opposite changes in GR expression. This suggests an inverted U-shaped relationship may exist between both neonatal corticosterone levels and adult GR expression in the interpositus nucleus, and adult GR expression in the interpositus and eyeblink conditioning.
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MESH Headings
- Aging/drug effects
- Aging/physiology
- Animals
- Animals, Newborn
- Cerebellar Nuclei/drug effects
- Cerebellar Nuclei/metabolism
- Conditioning, Eyelid/drug effects
- Conditioning, Eyelid/physiology
- Corticosterone/administration & dosage
- Corticosterone/blood
- Disease Models, Animal
- Female
- Male
- Maternal Deprivation
- Rats
- Rats, Long-Evans
- Receptors, Glucocorticoid/antagonists & inhibitors
- Receptors, Glucocorticoid/biosynthesis
- Receptors, Glucocorticoid/deficiency
- Stress, Psychological/metabolism
- Stress, Psychological/physiopathology
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Affiliation(s)
- A A Wilber
- Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive West, Lethbridge, AB, Canada T1K 3M4.
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32
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Young GB, Wijdicks EFM. Consciousness: its neurological relevance. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2010; 90:33-6. [PMID: 18631815 DOI: 10.1016/s0072-9752(07)01702-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/21/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- G Bryan Young
- London Health Sciences Centre, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.
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33
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Wilber AA, Lin GL, Wellman CL. Glucocorticoid receptor blockade in the posterior interpositus nucleus reverses maternal separation-induced deficits in adult eyeblink conditioning. Neurobiol Learn Mem 2010; 94:263-8. [PMID: 20558309 PMCID: PMC2922459 DOI: 10.1016/j.nlm.2010.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2010] [Revised: 05/05/2010] [Accepted: 06/08/2010] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Previously, we showed that neonatal maternal separation impaired eyeblink conditioning in adult rats. This impairment is correlated with increased glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression in the cerebellar posterior interpositus nucleus, a critical site of learning-related plasticity. To assess whether increased GR expression is responsible for the separation-induced learning impairment, we infused a GR antagonist (mifepristone) or vehicle into the posterior interpositus during eyeblink conditioning in adult male Long-Evans rats that had undergone control rearing or neonatal maternal separation (1h/day, postnatal days 2-14). Rats received standard rearing (control) or neonatal maternal separation (separated; 1h/day on postnatal days 2-14). In adulthood, rats underwent surgery for implantation of recording electrodes in the orbicularis oculi of the left eyelid, a bipolar stimulating electrode dorsocaudal to the left eye, and an infusion guide cannula positioned over the posterior interpositus. Then, rats underwent 10 daily sessions of eyeblink conditioning. Rats in each group received either 0.2microl of mifepristone (2ng in 2% EtOH) or vehicle infusion prior to each eyeblink conditioning session. Mifepristone infusions improved conditioning in separated rats, but impaired control rats' performance. Thus, separation-induced increases in GRs may mediate the learning deficit seen in adult neonatally separated rats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron A Wilber
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, United States
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Kellett DO, Fukunaga I, Chen-Kubota E, Dean P, Yeo CH. Memory consolidation in the cerebellar cortex. PLoS One 2010; 5:e11737. [PMID: 20686596 PMCID: PMC2912226 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011737] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2010] [Accepted: 06/29/2010] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Several forms of learning, including classical conditioning of the eyeblink, depend upon the cerebellum. In examining mechanisms of eyeblink conditioning in rabbits, reversible inactivations of the control circuitry have begun to dissociate aspects of cerebellar cortical and nuclear function in memory consolidation. It was previously shown that post-training cerebellar cortical, but not nuclear, inactivations with the GABAA agonist muscimol prevented consolidation but these findings left open the question as to how final memory storage was partitioned across cortical and nuclear levels. Memory consolidation might be essentially cortical and directly disturbed by actions of the muscimol, or it might be nuclear, and sensitive to the raised excitability of the nuclear neurons following the loss of cortical inhibition. To resolve this question, we simultaneously inactivated cerebellar cortical lobule HVI and the anterior interpositus nucleus of rabbits during the post-training period, so protecting the nuclei from disinhibitory effects of cortical inactivation. Consolidation was impaired by these simultaneous inactivations. Because direct application of muscimol to the nuclei alone has no impact upon consolidation, we can conclude that post-training, consolidation processes and memory storage for eyeblink conditioning have critical cerebellar cortical components. The findings are consistent with a recent model that suggests the distribution of learning-related plasticity across cortical and nuclear levels is task-dependent. There can be transfer to nuclear or brainstem levels for control of high-frequency responses but learning with lower frequency response components, such as in eyeblink conditioning, remains mainly dependent upon cortical memory storage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel O. Kellett
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Izumi Fukunaga
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Eva Chen-Kubota
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Dean
- Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher H. Yeo
- Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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Porras-García E, Sánchez-Campusano R, Martínez-Vargas D, Domínguez-del-Toro E, Cendelín J, Vozeh F, Delgado-García JM. Behavioral characteristics, associative learning capabilities, and dynamic association mapping in an animal model of cerebellar degeneration. J Neurophysiol 2010; 104:346-65. [PMID: 20410355 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00180.2010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Young adult heterozygous Lurcher mice constitute an excellent model for studying the role of the cerebellar cortex in motor performance-including the acquisition of new motor abilities-because of the early postnatal degeneration of almost all of their Purkinje and granular cells. Wild-type and Lurcher mice were classically conditioned for eyelid responses using a delay paradigm with or without an electrolytic lesion in the interpositus nucleus. Although the late component of electrically evoked blink reflexes was smaller in amplitude and had a longer latency in Lurcher mice than that in controls, the two groups of animals presented similar acquisition curves for eyeblink conditioning. The lesion of the interpositus nucleus affected both groups of animals equally for the generation of reflex and conditioned eyelid responses. Furthermore, we recorded the multiunitary activity at the red and interpositus nuclei during the same type of associative learning. In both nuclei, the neural firing activity lagged the beginning of the conditioned response (determined by orbicularis oculi muscle response). Although red nucleus neurons and muscle activities presented a clear functional coupling (strong correlation and low asymmetry) across conditioning, the coupling between interpositus neurons and either red nucleus neurons or muscle activities was slightly significant (weak correlation and high asymmetry). Lurcher mice presented a nonlinear coupling (high asymmetry) between red nucleus neurons and muscle activities, with an evident compensatory adjustment in the correlation of firing between interpositus and red nuclei neurons (a coupling with low asymmetry), aimed probably at compensating the absence of cerebellar cortical neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Porras-García
- Division of Anatomy and Human Embryology, Pablo de Olavide University, Seville, Spain
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Boele HJ, Koekkoek SKE, De Zeeuw CI. Cerebellar and extracerebellar involvement in mouse eyeblink conditioning: the ACDC model. Front Cell Neurosci 2010; 3:19. [PMID: 20126519 PMCID: PMC2805432 DOI: 10.3389/neuro.03.019.2009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2009] [Accepted: 11/29/2009] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Over the past decade the advent of mouse transgenics has generated new perspectives on the study of cerebellar molecular mechanisms that are essential for eyeblink conditioning. However, it also appears that results from eyeblink conditioning experiments done in mice differ in some aspects from results previously obtained in other mammals. In this review article we will, based on studies using (cell-specific) mouse mutants and region-specific lesions, re-examine the general eyeblink behavior in mice and the neuro-anatomical circuits that might contribute to the different peaks in the conditioned eyeblink trace. We conclude that the learning process in mice has at least two stages: An early stage, which includes short-latency responses that are at least partly controlled by extracerebellar structures such as the amygdala, and a later stage, which is represented by well-timed conditioned responses that are mainly controlled by the pontocerebellar and olivocerebellar systems. We refer to this overall concept as the Amygdala-Cerebellum-Dynamic-Conditioning Model (ACDC model).
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Affiliation(s)
- Henk-Jan Boele
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, RotterdamThe Netherlands
| | | | - Chris I. De Zeeuw
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, RotterdamThe Netherlands
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences, AmsterdamThe Netherlands
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Abstract
We assessed here true causal directionalities in cerebellar-motoneuron (MN) network associations during the classical conditioning of eyelid responses. For this, the firing activities of identified facial MNs and cerebellar interpositus (IP) nucleus neurons were recorded during the acquisition of this type of associative learning in alert behaving cats. Simultaneously, the eyelid conditioned response (CR) and the EMG activity of the orbicularis oculi (OO) muscle were recorded. Nonlinear association analysis and time-dependent causality method allowed us to determine the asymmetry, time delays, direction in coupling, and functional interdependences between neuronal recordings and learned motor responses. We concluded that the functional nonlinear association between the IP neurons and OO muscle activities was bidirectional and asymmetric, and the time delays in the two directions of coupling always lagged the start of the CR. Additionally, the strength of coupling depended inversely on the level of expression of eyeblink CRs, whereas causal inferences were significantly dependent on the phase information status. In contrast, the functional association between OO MNs and OO muscle activities was unidirectional and quasisymmetric, and the time delays in coupling were always of opposed signs. Moreover, information transfer in cerebellar-MN network associations during the learning process required a "driving common source" that induced the mere "modulating coupling" of the IP nucleus with the final common pathway for the eyelid motor system. Thus, it can be proposed that the cerebellum is always looking back and reevaluating its own function, using the information acquired in the process, to play a modulating-reinforcing role in motor learning.
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Wilber A, Wellman C. Neonatal maternal separation-induced changes in glucocorticoid receptor expression in posterior interpositus interneurons but not projection neurons predict deficits in adult eyeblink conditioning. Neurosci Lett 2009; 460:214-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2009.05.076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2009] [Revised: 05/18/2009] [Accepted: 05/29/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Lepora NF, Porrill J, Yeo CH, Evinger C, Dean P. Recruitment in retractor bulbi muscle during eyeblink conditioning: EMG analysis and common-drive model. J Neurophysiol 2009; 102:2498-513. [PMID: 19675295 PMCID: PMC2775390 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00204.2009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
To analyze properly the role of the cerebellum in classical conditioning of the eyeblink and nictitating membrane (NM) response, the control of conditioned response dynamics must be better understood. Previous studies have suggested that the control signal is linearly related to the CR as a result of recruitment within the accessory abducens motoneuron pool, which acts to linearize retractor bulbi muscle and NM response mechanics. Here we investigate possible recruitment mechanisms. Data came from simultaneous recordings of NM position and multiunit electromyographic (EMG) activity from the retractor bulbi muscle of rabbits during eyeblink conditioning, in which tone and periocular shock act as conditional and unconditional stimuli, respectively. Action potentials (spikes) were extracted and classified by amplitude. Firing rates of spikes with different amplitudes were analyzed with respect to NM response temporal profiles and total EMG spike firing rate. Four main regularities were revealed and quantified: 1) spike amplitude increased with response amplitude; 2) smaller spikes always appeared before larger spikes; 3) subsequent firing rates covaried for spikes of different amplitude, with smaller spikes always firing at higher rates than larger ones; and 4) firing-rate profiles were approximately Gaussian for all amplitudes. These regularities suggest that recruitment does take place in the retractor bulbi muscle during conditioned NM responses and that all motoneurons receive the same command signal (common-drive hypothesis). To test this hypothesis, a model of the motoneuron pool was constructed in which motoneurons had a range of intrinsic thresholds distributed exponentially, with threshold linearly related to EMG spike amplitude. Each neuron received the same input signal as required by the common-drive assumption. This simple model reproduced the main features of the data, suggesting that conditioned NM responses are controlled by a common-drive mechanism that enables simple commands to determine response topography in a linear fashion.
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Affiliation(s)
- N F Lepora
- Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
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Wilber A, Wellman C. Neonatal maternal separation alters the development of glucocorticoid receptor expression in the interpositus nucleus of the cerebellum. Int J Dev Neurosci 2009; 27:649-54. [PMID: 19665541 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2009.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2009] [Revised: 07/17/2009] [Accepted: 08/02/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- A.A. Wilber
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and Program in NeuroscienceIndiana University1101 East 10th StreetBloomingtonIN47405United States
| | - C.L. Wellman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and Program in NeuroscienceIndiana University1101 East 10th StreetBloomingtonIN47405United States
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41
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Parker KL, Zbarska S, Carrel AJ, Bracha V. Blocking GABAA neurotransmission in the interposed nuclei: effects on conditioned and unconditioned eyeblinks. Brain Res 2009; 1292:25-37. [PMID: 19635470 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2009.07.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2009] [Revised: 07/07/2009] [Accepted: 07/16/2009] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The interposed nuclei (IN) of the intermediate cerebellum are critical components of the circuits that control associative learning of eyeblinks and other defensive reflexes in mammals. The IN, which represent the sole output of the intermediate cerebellum, receive massive GABAergic input from Purkinje cells of the cerebellar cortex and are thought to contribute to the acquisition and performance of classically conditioned eyeblinks. The specific role of deep cerebellar nuclei and the cerebellar cortex in eyeblink conditioning are not well understood. One group of studies reported that blocking GABA(A) neurotransmission in the IN altered the time profile of conditioned responses (CRs), suggesting that the main function of the cerebellar cortex is to shape the timing of CRs. Other studies reported that blocking GABA(A) neurotransmission in the IN abolished CRs, indicating a more fundamental involvement of the cerebellar cortex in CR generation. When examining this controversy, we hypothesized that the behavioral effect of GABA(A) blockers could be dose-dependent. The IN of classically conditioned rabbits were injected with high and low doses of picrotoxin and gabazine. Both GABA(A) blockers produced tonic eyelid closure. A high dose of both drugs abolished CRs, whereas a less complete block of GABA(A)-mediated inputs with substantially smaller drug doses shortened CR latencies. In addition, low doses of picrotoxin facilitated the expression of unconditioned eyeblinks evoked by trigeminal stimulation. These results suggest that the intermediate cerebellum regulates both associative and non-associative components of the eyeblink reflex, and that behavioral effects of blocking Purkinje cell action on IN neurons are related to collective changes in cerebellar signals and in the excitability of extra-cerebellar eyeblink circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krystal L Parker
- Biomedical Sciences, 2032 Vet Med, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
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Fontinha BM, Delgado-García JM, Madroñal N, Ribeiro JA, Sebastião AM, Gruart A. Adenosine A(2A) receptor modulation of hippocampal CA3-CA1 synapse plasticity during associative learning in behaving mice. Neuropsychopharmacology 2009; 34:1865-74. [PMID: 19212319 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2009.8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Previous in vitro studies have characterized the electrophysiological and molecular signaling pathways of adenosine tonic modulation on long-lasting synaptic plasticity events, particularly for hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP). However, it remains to be elucidated whether the long-term changes produced by endogenous adenosine in the efficiency of synapses are related to those required for learning and memory formation. Our goal was to understand how endogenous activation of adenosine excitatory A(2A) receptors modulates the associative learning evolution in conscious behaving mice. We have studied here the effects of the application of a highly selective A(2A) receptor antagonist, SCH58261, upon a well-known associative learning paradigm-classical eyeblink conditioning. We used a trace paradigm, with a tone as the conditioned stimulus (CS) and an electric shock presented to the supraorbital nerve as the unconditioned stimulus (US). A single electrical pulse was presented to the Schaffer collateral-commissural pathway to evoke field EPSPs (fEPSPs) in the pyramidal CA1 area during the CS-US interval. In vehicle-injected animals, there was a progressive increase in the percentage of conditioning responses (CRs) and in the slope of fEPSPs through conditioning sessions, an effect that was completely prevented (and lost) in SCH58261 (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) -injected animals. Moreover, experimentally evoked LTP was impaired in SCH58261-injected mice. In conclusion, the endogenous activation of adenosine A(2A) receptors plays a pivotal effect on the associative learning process and its relevant hippocampal circuits, including activity-dependent changes at the CA3-CA1 synapse.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruno M Fontinha
- Institute of Pharmacology and Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Unit of Neurosciences, Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
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Abstract
One function of the cerebellar cortex is to process information. There are at least two types of information. Temporal information is encoded in the timing pattern of action and synaptic potentials, whereas structural information is encoded in the spatial pattern of the cerebellar synaptic circuitry. Intuitively, analysis of highly complex information in the time domain would require a cerebellar cortex with structural complexity to match. Information theory offers a way to estimate quantitatively both types of information and thereby helps to test hypotheses or advance theories of cerebellar neurobiology. These estimates suggest: (i) That the mossy-fiber-granule-cell system carries far more (temporal) information than the climbing fiber system, (ii) that Purkinje cells extract only a fraction of the (temporal) information from their afferents, and (iii) that the cerebellar cortex has a large (spatial) information coding capacity. Concerning information, one can argue that the cerebellar cortex analyzes temporal information in its afferents as a search engine, in search of coincidental mossy fiber events based on timing cues provided by climbing fiber events. Results of successive searches are continuously being converted into structural information encoded in the spatial distribution pattern of granule-cell-Purkinje-cell synapses along granule cell axons, thereby providing an adaptive and indeed self-correcting dimension to the structural information code. The search engine operation involves cellular mechanisms acting on temporal events and is part of an associative learning process. The conversion and generation of structural information involves neuroplasticity mechanisms acting at the synaptic level, with electrophysiological as well as structural consequences, and may be part of the short- and long-term memory process. These and other attributes qualify the cerebellar cortex as a dynamic information processing center, contributing to memory and learning while linking motor output with sensory events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiming Huang
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Missouri 64110-2499, USA.
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44
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Abstract
It is postulated that a key function of attention in goal-oriented behavior is to reduce performance variability by generating anticipatory neural activity that can be synchronized with expected sensory information. A network encompassing the prefrontal cortex, parietal lobe, and cerebellum may be critical in the maintenance and timing of such predictive neural activity. Dysfunction of this temporal process may constitute a fundamental defect in attention, causing working memory problems, distractibility, and decreased awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamshid Ghajar
- Department of Neurological Surgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA.
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45
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Faingold CL. Electrical stimulation therapies for CNS disorders and pain are mediated by competition between different neuronal networks in the brain. Med Hypotheses 2008; 71:668-81. [PMID: 18762389 DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2008.06.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2008] [Revised: 06/23/2008] [Accepted: 06/26/2008] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
CNS neuronal networks are known to control normal physiological functions, including locomotion and respiration. Neuronal networks also mediate the pathophysiology of many CNS disorders. Stimulation therapies, including localized brain and vagus nerve stimulation, electroshock, and acupuncture, are proposed to activate "therapeutic" neuronal networks. These therapeutic networks are dormant prior to stimulatory treatments, but when the dormant networks are activated they compete with pathophysiological neuronal networks, disrupting their function. This competition diminishes the disease symptoms, providing effective therapy for otherwise intractable CNS disorders, including epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, chronic pain, and depression. Competition between stimulation-activated therapeutic networks and pathophysiological networks is a major mechanism mediating the therapeutic effects of stimulation. This network interaction is hypothesized to involve competition for "control" of brain regions that contain high proportions of conditional multireceptive (CMR) neurons. CMR regions, including brainstem reticular formation, amygdala, and cerebral cortex, have extensive connections to numerous brain areas, allowing these regions to participate potentially in many networks. The participation of CMR regions in any network is often variable, depending on the conditions affecting the organism, including vigilance states, drug treatment, and learning. This response variability of CMR neurons is due to the high incidence of excitatory postsynaptic potentials that are below threshold for triggering action potentials. These subthreshold responses can be brought to threshold by blocking inhibition or enhancing excitation via the paradigms used in stimulation therapies. Participation of CMR regions in a network is also strongly affected by pharmacological treatments (convulsant or anesthetic drugs) and stimulus parameters (strength and repetition rate). Many studies indicate that treatment of unanesthetized animals with antagonists (bicuculline or strychnine) of inhibitory neurotransmitter (GABA or glycine) receptors can cause CMR neurons to become consistently responsive to external inputs (e.g., peripheral nerve, sensory, or electrical stimuli in the brain) to which these neurons did not previously respond. Conversely, agents that enhance GABA-mediated inhibition (e.g., barbiturates and benzodiazepines) or antagonize glutamate-mediated excitation (e.g., ketamine) can cause CMR neurons to become unresponsive to inputs to which they responded previously. The responses of CMR neurons exhibit extensive short-term and long-term plasticity, which permits them to participate to a variable degree in many networks. Short-term plasticity subserves termination of disease symptoms, while long-term plasticity in CMR regions subserves symptom prevention. This network interaction hypothesis has value for future research in CNS disease mechanisms and also for identifying therapeutic targets in specific brain networks for more selective stimulation and pharmacological therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carl L Faingold
- Department of Pharmacology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, P.O. Box 19629, Springfield, IL 62794-9629, USA.
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46
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Kronenbuerger M, Tronnier V, Gerwig M, Fromm C, Coenen V, Reinacher P, Kiening K, Noth J, Timmann D. Thalamic deep brain stimulation improves eyeblink conditioning deficits in essential tremor. Exp Neurol 2008; 211:387-96. [DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2008.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2007] [Revised: 01/06/2008] [Accepted: 02/08/2008] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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47
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Cheron G, Servais L, Dan B. Cerebellar network plasticity: From genes to fast oscillation. Neuroscience 2008; 153:1-19. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2008.01.074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2007] [Revised: 01/24/2008] [Accepted: 01/25/2008] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Dimitrova A, Gerwig M, Brol B, Gizewski ER, Forsting M, Beck A, Aurich V, Kolb FP, Timmann D. Correlation of cerebellar volume with eyeblink conditioning in healthy subjects and in patients with cerebellar cortical degeneration. Brain Res 2008; 1198:73-84. [PMID: 18262502 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2008.01.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2007] [Revised: 12/24/2007] [Accepted: 01/03/2008] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
In the present study, acquisition and timing of conditioned eyeblink responses (CRs) were correlated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based cerebellar volume both in healthy human subjects and patients with cerebellar disease. Thirty-three healthy subjects and 25 patients with pure cortical cerebellar degeneration participated. Cerebellar volumes were measured for the cortex of the anterior lobe, the cortex of the posterior lobe, the white matter of the cerebellum and the cerebrum based on 3D MR images. CR parameters were assessed in a standard delay paradigm. In healthy subjects CR acquisition was significantly related to the volume of the grey matter of the posterior lobe, but neither to the volume of the grey matter of the anterior lobe, nor to the cerebellar white matter and nor to the cerebral volume. As expected, CR acquisition and volume of the cortex of the posterior lobe showed age-related decline in the controls. Furthermore, CR acquisition was significantly reduced in patients with cerebellar degeneration compared to controls. In the cerebellar group, however, no significant correlations between CR acquisition and any of the cerebellar volumes were observed. Floor effects are most likely responsible for this observation. Although CRs occurred significantly earlier in cerebellar patients compared to controls, no significant correlations between CR timing parameters and any of the cerebellar volumes were observed. Extending previous findings in healthy human subjects, age-related decline of the cerebellar cortex of the posterior lobe was related with a reduction of CR acquisition. Findings provide further evidence that the cerebellar cortex plays an important role in the acquisition of eyeblink conditioning in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albena Dimitrova
- Department of Neurology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45138 Essen, Germany
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Gruart A, Delgado-García JM. Activity-dependent changes of the hippocampal CA3-CA1 synapse during the acquisition of associative learning in conscious mice. GENES BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR 2007; 6 Suppl 1:24-31. [PMID: 17543036 DOI: 10.1111/j.1601-183x.2007.00319.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Contemporary neuroscientists are paying increasing attention to subcellular, molecular and electrophysiological mechanisms underlying learning and memory processes. Recent efforts have addressed the development of transgenic mice affected at different stages of the learning process, or emulating pathological conditions involving cognition and motor-learning capabilities. However, a parallel effort is needed to develop stimulating and recording techniques suitable for use in behaving mice, in order to grasp activity-dependent neural changes taking place during the very moment of the process. These in vivo models should integrate the fragmentary information collected by different molecular and in vitro approaches. In this regard, long-term potentiation (LTP) has been proposed as the neural mechanism underlying synaptic plasticity. Moreover, N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are accepted as the molecular substrate of LTP. It now seems necessary to study the relationship of both LTP and NMDA receptors with the plastic changes taking place, in selected neural structures, during actual learning. Here, we review data on the involvement of the hippocampal CA3-CA1 synapse in the acquisition of classically conditioned eyelid conditioned responses (CRs) in behaving mice. Available data show that LTP, evoked by high-frequency stimulation of Schaffer collaterals, disturbs both the acquisition of CRs and the physiological changes that occur at the CA3-CA1 synapse during learning. Moreover, the administration of NMDA-receptor antagonists is able not only to prevent LTP induction in vivo, but also to hinder the formation of both CRs and functional changes in strength of the CA3-CA1 synapse. Thus, there is experimental evidence relating activity-dependent synaptic changes taking place during actual learning with LTP mechanisms and with the role of NMDA receptors in both processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Gruart
- División de Neurociencias, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla, Spain.
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50
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Leal-Campanario R, Fairén A, Delgado-García JM, Gruart A. Electrical stimulation of the rostral medial prefrontal cortex in rabbits inhibits the expression of conditioned eyelid responses but not their acquisition. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2007; 104:11459-64. [PMID: 17592148 PMCID: PMC1899194 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0704548104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2006] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We have studied the role of rostral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) on reflexively evoked blinks and on classically conditioned eyelid responses in alert-behaving rabbits. The rostral mPFC was identified by its afferent projections from the medial half of the thalamic mediodorsal nuclear complex. Classical conditioning consisted of a delay paradigm using a 370-ms tone as the conditioned stimulus (CS) and a 100-ms air puff directed at the left cornea as the unconditioned stimulus (US). The CS coterminated with the US. Electrical train stimulation of the contralateral rostral mPFC produced a significant inhibition of air-puff-evoked blinks. The same train stimulation of the rostral mPFC presented during the CS-US interval for 10 successive conditioning sessions significantly reduced the generation of conditioned responses (CRs) as compared with values reached by control animals. Interestingly, the percentage of CRs almost reached control values when train stimulation of the rostral mPFC was removed from the fifth conditioning session on. The electrical stimulation of the rostral mPFC in well conditioned animals produced a significant decrease in the percentage of CRs. Moreover, the stimulation of the rostral mPFC was also able to modify the kinematics (latency, amplitude, and velocity) of evoked CRs. These results suggest that the rostral mPFC is a potent inhibitor of reflexively evoked and classically conditioned eyeblinks but that activation prevents only the expression of CRs, not their latent acquisition. Functional and behavioral implications of this inhibitory role of the rostral mPFC are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alfonso Fairén
- Instituto de Neurociencias, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas–Universidad Miguel Hernández, 03550 San Juan de Alicante, Spain
| | | | - Agnès Gruart
- *División de Neurociencias, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013 Sevilla, Spain; and
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