Role of gap junctions in synchronized neuronal oscillations in the inferior olive

A hyperpolarizing neuron recruits undocked innexin hemichannels to transmit neural information in Caenorhabditis elegans

While depolarization of the neuronal membrane is known to evoke the neurotransmitter release from synaptic vesicles, hyperpolarization is regarded as a resting state of chemical neurotransmission. Here, we report that hyperpolarizing neurons can actively signal neural information by employing undocked hemichannels. We show that UNC-7, a member of the innexin family in Caenorhabditis elegans, functions as a hemichannel in thermosensory neurons and transmits temperature information from the thermosensory neurons to their postsynaptic interneurons. By monitoring neural activities in freely behaving animals, we find that hyperpolarizing thermosensory neurons inhibit the activity of the interneurons and that UNC-7 hemichannels regulate this process. UNC-7 is required to control thermotaxis behavior and functions independently of synaptic vesicle exocytosis. Our findings suggest that innexin hemichannels mediate neurotransmission from hyperpolarizing neurons in a manner that is distinct from the synaptic transmission, expanding the way of neural circuitry operations.

GABAergic interneuron diversity and organization are crucial for the generation of human-specific functional neural networks in cerebral organoids

This mini review investigates the importance of GABAergic interneurons for the network function of human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC)-derived brain organoids. The presented evidence suggests that the abundance, diversity and three-dimensional cortical organization of GABAergic interneurons are the primary elements responsible for the creation of synchronous neuronal firing patterns. Without intricate inhibition, coupled oscillatory patterns cannot reach a sufficient complexity to transfer spatiotemporal information constituting physiological network function. Furthermore, human-specific brain network function seems to be mediated by a more complex and interconnected inhibitory structure that remains developmentally flexible for a longer period when compared to rodents. This suggests that several characteristics of human brain networks cannot be captured by rodent models, emphasizing the need for model systems like organoids that adequately mimic physiological human brain function in vitro.

Assembly mechanisms of the neuronal gap junction channel connexin 36 elucidated by Cryo-EM

Electrical synapses are essential components of neural circuits. Neuronal signal transduction across electrical synapses is primarily mediated by gap junction channels composed of Connexin36 (Cx36), the lack of which causes impaired electrical coupling between certain neurons including cortical interneurons and thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) neurons. However, the structural basis underlying Cx36 function and assembly remains elusive. Recently, Lee et al. reported cryo-EM structures of Cx36, thus provided first insights of its gating mechanism. Here, we report a consistent cryo-EM structure of Cx36 determined in parallel, and describe unique interactions underpinning its assembly mechanism in complementary to the competing work. In particular, we found non-canonical electrostatic interactions between protomers from opposing hemichannels and a steric complementary site between adjacent protomers within a hemichannel, which together provide a structural explanation for the assembly specificity in homomeric and heteromeric gap junction channels.

Electrophysiological alterations of the Purkinje cells and deep cerebellar neurons in a mouse model of Alzheimer disease (electrophysiology on cerebellum of AD mice)

Alzheimer's disease is histopathologically well defined by the presence of amyloid deposits and tau-related neurofibrillary tangles in crucial regions of the brain. Interest is growing in revealing and determining possible pathological markers also in the cerebellum as its involvement in cognitive functions is now well supported. Despite the central position of the Purkinje cell in the cerebellum, its electrophysiological behaviour in mouse models of Alzheimer's disease is scarce in the literature. Our first aim was here to focus on the electrophysiological behaviour of the cerebellum in awake mouse model of Alzheimer's disease (APPswe/PSEN1dE9) and the related performance on the water-maze test classically used in behavioural studies. We found prevalent signs of electrophysiological alterations in both Purkinje cells and deep cerebellar nuclei neurons which might explain the behavioural deficits reported during the water-maze test. The alterations of neurons firing were accompanied by a dual (~16 and ~228 Hz) local field potential's oscillation in the Purkinje cell layer of Alzheimer's disease mice which was concomitant to an important increase of both the simple and the complex spikes. In addition, β-amyloid deposits were present in the molecular layer of the cerebellum. These results highlight the importance of the output firing modification of the AD cerebellum that may indirectly impact the activity of its subcortical and cortical targets.

The Cerebellar Cortex

The cerebellar cortex is an important system for relating neural circuits and learning. Its promise reflects the longstanding idea that it contains simple, repeated circuit modules with only a few cell types and a single plasticity mechanism that mediates learning according to classical Marr-Albus models. However, emerging data have revealed surprising diversity in neuron types, synaptic connections, and plasticity mechanisms, both locally and regionally within the cerebellar cortex. In light of these findings, it is not surprising that attempts to generate a holistic model of cerebellar learning across different behaviors have not been successful. While the cerebellum remains an ideal system for linking neuronal function with behavior, it is necessary to update the cerebellar circuit framework to achieve its great promise. In this review, we highlight recent advances in our understanding of cerebellar-cortical cell types, synaptic connections, signaling mechanisms, and forms of plasticity that enrich cerebellar processing.

On the Diverse Functions of Electrical Synapses

Electrical synapses are the neurophysiological product of gap junctional pores between neurons that allow bidirectional flow of current between neurons. They are expressed throughout the mammalian nervous system, including cortex, hippocampus, thalamus, retina, cerebellum, and inferior olive. Classically, the function of electrical synapses has been associated with synchrony, logically following that continuous conductance provided by gap junctions facilitates the reduction of voltage differences between coupled neurons. Indeed, electrical synapses promote synchrony at many anatomical and frequency ranges across the brain. However, a growing body of literature shows there is greater complexity to the computational function of electrical synapses. The paired membranes that embed electrical synapses act as low-pass filters, and as such, electrical synapses can preferentially transfer spike after hyperpolarizations, effectively providing spike-dependent inhibition. Other functions include driving asynchronous firing, improving signal to noise ratio, aiding in discrimination of dissimilar inputs, or dampening signals by shunting current. The diverse ways by which electrical synapses contribute to neuronal integration merits furthers study. Here we review how functions of electrical synapses vary across circuits and brain regions and depend critically on the context of the neurons and brain circuits involved. Computational modeling of electrical synapses embedded in multi-cellular models and experiments utilizing optical control and measurement of cellular activity will be essential in determining the specific roles performed by electrical synapses in varying contexts.

Designing AAV Vectors for Monitoring the Subtle Calcium Fluctuations of Inferior Olive Network in vivo

Adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors, used as vehicles for gene transfer into the brain, are a versatile and powerful tool of modern neuroscience that allow identifying specific neuronal populations, monitoring and modulating their activity. For consistent and reproducible results, the AAV vectors must be engineered so that they reliably and accurately target cell populations. Furthermore, transgene expression must be adjusted to sufficient and safe levels compatible with the physiology of studied cells. We undertook the effort to identify and validate an AAV vector that could be utilized for researching the inferior olivary (IO) nucleus, a structure gating critical timing-related signals to the cerebellum. By means of systematic construct generation and quantitative expression profiling, we succeeded in creating a viral tool for specific and strong transfection of the IO neurons without adverse effects on their physiology. The potential of these tools is demonstrated by expressing the calcium sensor GCaMP6s in adult mouse IO neurons. We could monitor subtle calcium fluctuations underlying two signatures of intrinsic IO activity: the subthreshold oscillations (STOs) and the variable-duration action potential waveforms both in-vitro and in-vivo. Further, we show that the expression levels of GCaMP6s allowing such recordings are compatible with the delicate calcium-based dynamics of IO neurons, inviting future work into the network dynamics of the olivo-cerebellar system in behaving animals.

Function and Plasticity of Electrical Synapses in the Mammalian Brain: Role of Non-Junctional Mechanisms

Simple Summary

Relevant brain functions, such as perception, organization of behavior, and cognitive processes, are the outcome of information processing by neural circuits. Within these circuits, communication between neurons mainly relies on two modalities of synaptic transmission: chemical and electrical. Moreover, changes in the strength of these connections, aka synaptic plasticity, are believed to underlie processes of learning and memory, and its dysfunction has been suggested to underlie a variety of neurological disorders. While the relevance of chemical transmission and its plastic changes are known in great detail, analogous mechanisms and functional impact of their electrical counterparts were only recently acknowledged. In this article, we review the basic physical principles behind electrical transmission between neurons, the plethora of functional operations supported by this modality of neuron-to-neuron communication, as well as the basic principles of plasticity at these synapses.

Abstract

Electrical transmission between neurons is largely mediated by gap junctions. These junctions allow the direct flow of electric current between neurons, and in mammals, they are mostly composed of the protein connexin36. Circuits of electrically coupled neurons are widespread in these animals. Plus, experimental and theoretical evidence supports the notion that, beyond synchronicity, these circuits are able to perform sophisticated operations such as lateral excitation and inhibition, noise reduction, as well as the ability to selectively respond upon coincident excitatory inputs. Although once considered stereotyped and unmodifiable, we now know that electrical synapses are subject to modulation and, by reconfiguring neural circuits, these modulations can alter relevant operations. The strength of electrical synapses depends on the gap junction resistance, as well as on its functional interaction with the electrophysiological properties of coupled neurons. In particular, voltage and ligand gated channels of the non-synaptic membrane critically determine the efficacy of transmission at these contacts. Consistently, modulatory actions on these channels have been shown to represent relevant mechanisms of plasticity of electrical synaptic transmission. Here, we review recent evidence on the regulation of electrical synapses of mammals, the underlying molecular mechanisms, and the possible ways in which they affect circuit function.

Is the inferior olive central to essential tremor? Yes

We consider the question whether the inferior olive (IO) is required for essential tremor (ET). Much evidence shows that the olivocerebellar system is the main system capable of generating the widespread synchronous oscillatory Purkinje cell (PC) complex spike (CS) activity across the cerebellar cortex that would be capable of generating the type of bursting cerebellar output from the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) that could underlie tremor. Normally, synchronous CS activity primarily reflects the effective electrical coupling of IO neurons by gap junctions, and traditionally, ET research has focused on the hypothesis of increased coupling of IO neurons as the cause of hypersynchronous CS activity underlying tremor. However, recent pathology studies of brains from humans with ET and evidence from mutant mice, particularly the hotfoot17 mouse, that largely replicate the pathology of ET, suggest that the abnormal innervation of multiple Purkinje cells (PCs) by climbing fibers (Cfs) is related to tremor. In addition, ET brains show partial PC loss and axon terminal sprouting by surviving PCs. This may provide another mechanism for tremor. It is proposed that in ET, these three mechanisms may promote tremor. They all involve hypersynchronous DCN activity and an intact IO, but the level at which excessive synchronization occurs may be at the IO level (from abnormal afferent activity to this nucleus), the PC level (via aberrant Cfs), or the DCN level (via terminal PC collateral innervation).

Cerebellar complex spikes multiplex complementary behavioral information

Purkinje cell (PC) discharge, the only output of cerebellar cortex, involves 2 types of action potentials, high-frequency simple spikes (SSs) and low-frequency complex spikes (CSs). While there is consensus that SSs convey information needed to optimize movement kinematics, the function of CSs, determined by the PC’s climbing fiber input, remains controversial. While initially thought to be specialized in reporting information on motor error for the subsequent amendment of behavior, CSs seem to contribute to other aspects of motor behavior as well. When faced with the bewildering diversity of findings and views unraveled by highly specific tasks, one may wonder if there is just one true function with all the other attributions wrong? Or is the diversity of findings a reflection of distinct pools of PCs, each processing specific streams of information conveyed by climbing fibers? With these questions in mind, we recorded CSs from the monkey oculomotor vermis deploying a repetitive saccade task that entailed sizable motor errors as well as small amplitude saccades, correcting them. We demonstrate that, in addition to carrying error-related information, CSs carry information on the metrics of both primary and small corrective saccades in a time-specific manner, with changes in CS firing probability coupled with changes in CS duration. Furthermore, we also found CS activity that seemed to predict the upcoming events. Hence PCs receive a multiplexed climbing fiber input that merges complementary streams of information on the behavior, separable by the recipient PC because they are staggered in time.

Purkinje cell (PC) discharge, the only output of cerebellar cortex, involves both high-frequency simple spikes and low-frequency complex spikes; the function of the latter, determined by a PC’s climbing fibre input, remains controversial. This study shows that PCs receive a multiplexed climbing fibre input that merges complementary streams of information relevant for behaviour.

Organelle calcium-derived voltage oscillations in pacemaker neurons drive the motor program for food-seeking behavior in Aplysia

The expression of motivated behaviors depends on both external and internally arising neural stimuli, yet the intrinsic releasing mechanisms for such variably occurring behaviors remain elusive. In isolated nervous system preparations of Aplysia, we have found that irregularly expressed cycles of motor output underlying food-seeking behavior arise from regular membrane potential oscillations of varying magnitude in an identified pair of interneurons (B63) in the bilateral buccal ganglia. This rhythmic signal, which is specific to the B63 cells, is generated by organelle-derived intracellular calcium fluxes that activate voltage-independent plasma membrane channels. The resulting voltage oscillation spreads throughout a subset of gap junction-coupled buccal network neurons and by triggering plateau potential-mediated bursts in B63, can initiate motor output driving food-seeking action. Thus, an atypical neuronal pacemaker mechanism, based on rhythmic intracellular calcium store release and intercellular propagation, can act as an autonomous intrinsic releaser for the occurrence of a motivated behavior.

Part I: The Complex Spikes as One of the Cerebellar Secrets

The olivocerebellar tract has unique morphological, physiological, and developmental properties. Olivocerebellar axons are the source of multiple climbing fibers (CFs). The synapse between CFs and the Purkinje neuron is one of the most powerful excitatory in the central nervous system. Complex spikes are composed of an initial large amplitude spike followed by spikelets. The spatiotemporal patterns of complex/simple spikes complement the rate coding to enhance the accuracy of motor and cognitive processing, and to improve predictions related to internal models. Understanding the role of complex spikes is essential in clarifying how the cerebellar cortex contributes to learning, motor control, cognitive tasks, and the processing of emotions. This Cerebellar Classic is devoted to the pioneering work of Eccles, Llinás, and Sasaki on complex spikes using intracellular recordings from Purkinje neurons.

Imaging Subthreshold Voltage Oscillation With Cellular Resolution in the Inferior Olive in vitro

Voltage imaging with cellular resolution in mammalian brain slices is still a challenging task. Here, we describe and validate a method for delivery of the voltage-sensitive dye ANNINE-6plus (A6+) into tissue for voltage imaging that results in higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than conventional bath application methods. The not fully dissolved dye was injected into the inferior olive (IO) 0, 1, or 7 days prior to acute slice preparation using stereotactic surgery. We find that the voltage imaging improves after an extended incubation period in vivo in terms of labeled volume, homogeneous neuropil labeling with saliently labeled somata, and SNR. Preparing acute slices 7 days after the dye injection, the SNR is high enough to allow single-trial recording of IO subthreshold oscillations using wide-field (network-level) as well as high-magnification (single-cell level) voltage imaging with a CMOS camera. This method is easily adaptable to other brain regions where genetically-encoded voltage sensors are prohibitively difficult to use and where an ultrafast, pure electrochromic sensor, like A6+, is required. Due to the long-lasting staining demonstrated here, the method can be combined, for example, with deep-brain imaging using implantable GRIN lenses.

Kv11 (ether-à-go-go-related gene) voltage-dependent K+ channels promote resonance and oscillation of subthreshold membrane potentials

Key points

Some ion channels are known to behave as inductors and make up the parallel resonant circuit in the plasma membrane of neurons, which enables neurons to respond to current inputs with a specific frequency (so‐called ‘resonant properties’).

Here, we report that heterologous expression of mouse Kv11 voltage‐dependent K⁺ channels generate resonance and oscillation at depolarized membrane potentials in HEK293 cells; expressions of individual Kv11 subtypes generate resonance and oscillation with different frequency properties.

Kv11.3‐expressing HEK293 cells exhibited transient conductance changes that opposed the current changes induced by voltage steps; this probably enables Kv11 channels to behave like an inductor.

The resonance and oscillation of inferior olivary neurons were impaired at the resting membrane potential in Kv11.3 knockout mice.

This study helps to elucidate basic ion channel properties that are crucial for the frequency responses of neurons.

Abstract

The plasma membranes of some neurons preferentially respond to current inputs with a specific frequency, and output as large voltage changes. This property is called resonance, and is thought to be mediated by ion channels that show inductor‐like behaviour. However, details of the candidate ion channels remain unclear. In this study, we mainly focused on the functional roles of Kv11 potassium (K⁺) channels, encoded by ether‐á‐go‐go‐related genes, in resonance in mouse inferior olivary (IO) neurons. We transfected HEK293 cells with long or short splice variants of Kv11.1 (Merg1a and Merg1b) or Kv11.3, and examined membrane properties using whole‐cell recording. Transfection with Kv11 channels reproduced resonance at membrane potentials depolarized from the resting state. Frequency ranges of Kv11.3‐, Kv11.1(Merg1b)‐ and Kv11.1(Merg1a)‐expressing cells were 2–6 Hz, 2–4 Hz, and 0.6–0.8 Hz, respectively. Responses of Kv11.3 currents to step voltage changes were essentially similar to those of inductor currents in the resistor–inductor–capacitor circuit. Furthermore, Kv11 transfections generated membrane potential oscillations. We also confirmed the contribution of HCN1 channels as a major mediator of resonance at more hyperpolarized potentials by transfection into HEK293 cells. The Kv11 current kinetics and properties of Kv11‐dependent resonance suggested that Kv11.3 mediated resonance in IO neurons. This finding was confirmed by the impairment of resonance and oscillation at –30 to –60 mV in Kcnh7 (Kv11.3) knockout mice. These results suggest that Kv11 channels have important roles in inducing frequency‐dependent responses in a subtype‐dependent manner from resting to depolarized membrane potentials.

Some ion channels are known to behave as inductors and make up the parallel resonant circuit in the plasma membrane of neurons, which enables neurons to respond to current inputs with a specific frequency (so‐called ‘resonant properties’).

Here, we report that heterologous expression of mouse Kv11 voltage‐dependent K⁺ channels generate resonance and oscillation at depolarized membrane potentials in HEK293 cells; expressions of individual Kv11 subtypes generate resonance and oscillation with different frequency properties.

Kv11.3‐expressing HEK293 cells exhibited transient conductance changes that opposed the current changes induced by voltage steps; this probably enables Kv11 channels to behave like an inductor.

The resonance and oscillation of inferior olivary neurons were impaired at the resting membrane potential in Kv11.3 knockout mice.

This study helps to elucidate basic ion channel properties that are crucial for the frequency responses of neurons.

Alcohol-Responsive Hyperkinetic Movement Disorders-a Mechanistic Hypothesis

Patients with essential tremor, vocal tremor, torticollis, myoclonus-dystonia and posthypoxic myoclonus often benefit in a surprisingly rapid and robust manner from ingestion of a modest amount of alcohol (ethanol). Despite considerable investigation, the mechanism of ethanol’s ability to produce this effect remains a mystery. In this paper, we review the pharmacology of ethanol and its analogue GHB (or sodium oxybate), summarize the published literature of alcohol-responsive hyperkinetic movement disorders, and demonstrate videos of patients we have treated over the last fifteen years with either an ethanol challenge or with chronic sodium oxybate therapy. We then propose a novel explanation for this phenomenon—namely, that ingestion of modest doses of ethanol (or sodium oxybate) normalizes the aberrant motor networks underling these disorders. We propose that alcohol and its analogues improve clinical symptoms and their physiologic correlate by restoring the normal firing pattern of the major outflow pathways of the cerebellum (the Purkinje cells and deep cerebellar nuclei), We present evidence to support this hypothesis in animal models and in affected patients, and suggest future investigations to test this model.

Increased Purkinje Cell Complex Spike and Deep Cerebellar Nucleus Synchrony as a Potential Basis for Syndromic Essential Tremor. A Review and Synthesis of the Literature

We review advances in understanding Purkinje cell (PC) complex spike (CS) physiology that suggest increased CS synchrony underlies syndromic essential tremor (ET). We searched PubMed for papers describing factors that affect CS synchrony or cerebellar circuits potentially related to tremor. Inferior olivary (IO) neurons are electrically coupled, with the degree of coupling controlled by excitatory and GABAergic inputs. Clusters of coupled IO neurons synchronize CSs within parasagittal bands via climbing fibers (Cfs). When motor cortex is stimulated in rats at varying frequencies, whisker movement occurs at ~10 Hz, correlated with synchronous CSs, indicating that the IO/CS oscillatory rhythm gates movement frequency. Intra-IO injection of the GABA_A receptor antagonist picrotoxin increases CS synchrony, increases whisker movement amplitude, and induces tremor. Harmaline and 5-HT_2a receptor activation also increase IO coupling and CS synchrony and induce tremor. The hotfoot17 mouse displays features found in ET brains, including cerebellar GluRδ2 deficiency and abnormal PC Cf innervation, with IO- and PC-dependent cerebellar oscillations and tremor likely due to enhanced CS synchrony. Heightened coupling within the IO oscillator leads, through its dynamic control of CS synchrony, to increased movement amplitude and, when sufficiently intense, action tremor. Increased CS synchrony secondary to aberrant Cf innervation of multiple PCs likely also underlies hotfoot17 tremor. Deep cerebellar nucleus (DCN) hypersynchrony may occur secondary to increased CS synchrony but might also occur from PC axonal terminal sprouting during partial PC loss. Through these combined mechanisms, increased CS/DCN synchrony may plausibly underlie syndromic ET.

Using deep neural networks to detect complex spikes of cerebellar Purkinje cells

Purkinje cell “complex spikes,” fired at perplexingly low rates, play a crucial role in cerebellum-based motor learning. Careful interpretations of these spikes require manually detecting them, since conventional online or offline spike sorting algorithms are optimized for classifying much simpler waveform morphologies. We present a novel deep learning approach for identifying complex spikes, which also measures additional relevant neurophysiological features, with an accuracy level matching that of human experts yet with very little time expenditure.

Purkinje cell misfiring generates high-amplitude action tremors that are corrected by cerebellar deep brain stimulation

Tremor is currently ranked as the most common movement disorder. The brain regions and neural signals that initiate the debilitating shakiness of different body parts remain unclear. Here, we found that genetically silencing cerebellar Purkinje cell output blocked tremor in mice that were given the tremorgenic drug harmaline. We show in awake behaving mice that the onset of tremor is coincident with rhythmic Purkinje cell firing, which alters the activity of their target cerebellar nuclei cells. We mimic the tremorgenic action of the drug with optogenetics and present evidence that highly patterned Purkinje cell activity drives a powerful tremor in otherwise normal mice. Modulating the altered activity with deep brain stimulation directed to the Purkinje cell output in the cerebellar nuclei reduced tremor in freely moving mice. Together, the data implicate Purkinje cell connectivity as a neural substrate for tremor and a gateway for signals that mediate the disease.

Using subthreshold events to characterize the functional architecture of the electrically coupled inferior olive network

The electrical connectivity in the inferior olive (IO) nucleus plays an important role in generating well-timed spiking activity. Here we combined electrophysiological and computational approaches to assess the functional organization of the IO nucleus in mice. Spontaneous fast and slow subthreshold events were commonly encountered during in vitro recordings. We show that whereas the fast events represent intrinsic regenerative activity, the slow events reflect the electrical connectivity between neurons (‘spikelets’). Recordings from cell pairs revealed the synchronized occurrence of distinct groups of spikelets; their rate and distribution enabled an accurate estimation of the number of connected cells and is suggestive of a clustered organization. This study thus provides a new perspective on the functional and structural organization of the olivary nucleus and a novel experimental and theoretical approach to study electrically coupled networks.

Response Dynamics in an Olivocerebellar Spiking Neural Network With Non-linear Neuron Properties

Sensorimotor signals are integrated and processed by the cerebellar circuit to predict accurate control of actions. In order to investigate how single neuron dynamics and geometrical modular connectivity affect cerebellar processing, we have built an olivocerebellar Spiking Neural Network (SNN) based on a novel simplification algorithm for single point models (Extended Generalized Leaky Integrate and Fire, EGLIF) capturing essential non-linear neuronal dynamics (e.g., pacemaking, bursting, adaptation, oscillation and resonance). EGLIF models specifically tuned for each neuron type were embedded into an olivocerebellar scaffold reproducing realistic spatial organization and physiological convergence and divergence ratios of connections. In order to emulate the circuit involved in an eye blink response to two associated stimuli, we modeled two adjacent olivocerebellar microcomplexes with a common mossy fiber input but different climbing fiber inputs (either on or off). EGLIF-SNN model simulations revealed the emergence of fundamental response properties in Purkinje cells (burst-pause) and deep nuclei cells (pause-burst) similar to those reported in vivo. The expression of these properties depended on the specific activation of climbing fibers in the microcomplexes and did not emerge with scaffold models using simplified point neurons. This result supports the importance of embedding SNNs with realistic neuronal dynamics and appropriate connectivity and anticipates the scale-up of EGLIF-SNN and the embedding of plasticity rules required to investigate cerebellar functioning at multiple scales.

Climbing Fibers Provide Graded Error Signals in Cerebellar Learning

The cerebellum plays a critical role in coordinating and learning complex movements. Although its importance has been well recognized, the mechanisms of learning remain hotly debated. According to the classical cerebellar learning theory, depression of parallel fiber synapses instructed by error signals from climbing fibers, drives cerebellar learning. The uniqueness of long-term depression (LTD) in cerebellar learning has been challenged by evidence showing multi-site synaptic plasticity. In Purkinje cells, long-term potentiation (LTP) of parallel fiber synapses is now well established and it can be achieved with or without climbing fiber signals, making the role of climbing fiber input more puzzling. The central question is how individual Purkinje cells extract global errors based on climbing fiber input. Previous data seemed to demonstrate that climbing fibers are inefficient instructors, because they were thought to carry “binary” error signals to individual Purkinje cells, which significantly constrains the efficiency of cerebellar learning in several regards. In recent years, new evidence has challenged the traditional view of “binary” climbing fiber responses, suggesting that climbing fibers can provide graded information to efficiently instruct individual Purkinje cells to learn. Here we review recent experimental and theoretical progress regarding modulated climbing fiber responses in Purkinje cells. Analog error signals are generated by the interaction of varying climbing fibers inputs with simultaneous other synaptic input and with firing states of targeted Purkinje cells. Accordingly, the calcium signals which trigger synaptic plasticity can be graded in both amplitude and spatial range to affect the learning rate and even learning direction. We briefly discuss how these new findings complement the learning theory and help to further our understanding of how the cerebellum works.

Quasiperiodic rhythms of the inferior olive

Inferior olivary activity causes both short-term and long-term changes in cerebellar output underlying motor performance and motor learning. Many of its neurons engage in coherent subthreshold oscillations and are extensively coupled via gap junctions. Studies in reduced preparations suggest that these properties promote rhythmic, synchronized output. However, the interaction of these properties with torrential synaptic inputs in awake behaving animals is not well understood. Here we combine electrophysiological recordings in awake mice with a realistic tissue-scale computational model of the inferior olive to study the relative impact of intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms governing its activity. Our data and model suggest that if subthreshold oscillations are present in the awake state, the period of these oscillations will be transient and variable. Accordingly, by using different temporal patterns of sensory stimulation, we found that complex spike rhythmicity was readily evoked but limited to short intervals of no more than a few hundred milliseconds and that the periodicity of this rhythmic activity was not fixed but dynamically related to the synaptic input to the inferior olive as well as to motor output. In contrast, in the long-term, the average olivary spiking activity was not affected by the strength and duration of the sensory stimulation, while the level of gap junctional coupling determined the stiffness of the rhythmic activity in the olivary network during its dynamic response to sensory modulation. Thus, interactions between intrinsic properties and extrinsic inputs can explain the variations of spiking activity of olivary neurons, providing a temporal framework for the creation of both the short-term and long-term changes in cerebellar output.

Activity of the inferior olive, transmitted via climbing fibers to the cerebellum, regulates initiation and amplitude of movements, signals unexpected sensory feedback, and directs cerebellar learning. It is characterized by widespread subthreshold oscillations and synchronization promoted by strong electrotonic coupling. In brain slices, subthreshold oscillations gate which inputs can be transmitted by inferior olivary neurons and which will not—dependent on the phase of the oscillation. We tested whether the subthreshold oscillations had a measurable impact on temporal patterning of climbing fiber activity in intact, awake mice. We did so by recording neural activity of the postsynaptic Purkinje cells, in which complex spike firing faithfully represents climbing fiber activity. For short intervals (<300 ms) many Purkinje cells showed spontaneously rhythmic complex spike activity. However, our experiments designed to evoke conditional responses indicated that complex spikes are not predominantly predicated on stimulus history. Our realistic network model of the inferior olive explains the experimental observations via continuous phase modulations of the subthreshold oscillations under the influence of synaptic fluctuations. We conclude that complex spike activity emerges from a quasiperiodic rhythm that is stabilized by electrotonic coupling between its dendrites, yet dynamically influenced by the status of their synaptic inputs.

Conversion of Graded Presynaptic Climbing Fiber Activity into Graded Postsynaptic Ca2+ Signals by Purkinje Cell Dendrites

The brain must make sense of external stimuli to generate relevant behavior. We used a combination of in vivo approaches to investigate how the cerebellum processes sensory-related information. We found that the inferior olive encodes contexts of sensory-associated external cues in a graded manner, apparent in the presynaptic activity of their axonal projections (climbing fibers) in the cerebellar cortex. Individual climbing fibers were broadly responsive to different sensory modalities but relayed sensory-related information to the cortex in a lobule-dependent manner. Purkinje cell dendrites faithfully transformed this climbing fiber activity into dendrite-wide Ca²⁺ signals without a direct contribution from the mossy fiber pathway. These results demonstrate that the size of climbing-fiber-evoked Ca²⁺ signals in Purkinje cell dendrites is largely determined by the firing level of climbing fibers. This coding scheme emphasizes the overwhelming role of the inferior olive in generating salient signals useful for instructing plasticity and learning.

Complex Spike Wars: a New Hope

The climbing fiber-Purkinje cell circuit is one of the most powerful and highly conserved in the central nervous system. Climbing fibers exert a powerful excitatory action that results in a complex spike in Purkinje cells and normal functioning of the cerebellum depends on the integrity of climbing fiber-Purkinje cell synapse. Over the last 50 years, multiple hypotheses have been put forward on the role of the climbing fibers and complex spikes in cerebellar information processing and motor control. Central to these theories is the nature of the interaction between the low-frequency complex spike discharge and the high-frequency simple spike firing of Purkinje cells. This review examines the major hypotheses surrounding the action of the climbing fiber-Purkinje cell projection, discussing both supporting and conflicting findings. The review describes newer findings establishing that climbing fibers and complex spikes provide predictive signals about movement parameters and that climbing fiber input controls the encoding of behavioral information in the simple spike firing of Purkinje cells. Finally, we propose the dynamic encoding hypothesis for complex spike function that strives to integrate established and newer findings.

Electrical coupling between hippocampal neurons: contrasting roles of principal cell gap junctions and interneuron gap junctions

There is considerable experimental evidence, anatomical and physiological, that gap junctions exist in the hippocampus. Electrical coupling through these gap junctions may be divided into three types: between principal neurons, between interneurons and at mixed chemical (glutamatergic)/electrical synapses. An approach, combining in vitro experimental with modeling techniques, sheds some light on the functional consequences of electrical coupling, for network oscillations and for seizures. Additionally, in vivo experiments, using mouse connexin knockouts, suggest that the presence of electrical coupling is important for optimal performance on selected behavioral tasks; however, the interpretation of such data, in cellular terms, has so far proven difficult. Given that invertebrate central pattern generators so often depend on both chemical and electrical synapses, our hypothesis is that hippocampus-mediated and -influenced behaviors will act likewise. Experiments, likely hard ones, will be required to test this intuition.

Beta-gamma burst stimulations of the inferior olive induce high-frequency oscillations in the deep cerebellar nuclei

The cerebellum displays various sorts of rhythmic activities covering both low- and high-frequency oscillations. These cerebellar high-frequency oscillations were observed in the cerebellar cortex. Here, we hypothesised that not only is the cerebellar cortex a generator of high-frequency oscillations but also that the deep cerebellar nuclei may also play a similar role. Thus, we analysed local field potentials and single-unit activities in the deep cerebellar nuclei before, during and after electric stimulation in the inferior olive of awake mice. A high-frequency oscillation of 350 Hz triggered by the stimulation of the inferior olive, within the beta-gamma range, was observed in the deep cerebellar nuclei. The amplitude and frequency of the oscillation were independent of the frequency of stimulation. This oscillation emerged during the period of stimulation and persisted after the end of the stimulation. The oscillation coincided with the inhibition of deep cerebellar neurons. As the inhibition of the deep cerebellar nuclei is related to inhibitory inputs from Purkinje cells, we speculate that the oscillation represents the unmasking of the synchronous activation of another subtype of deep cerebellar neuronal subtype, devoid of GABA receptors and under the direct control of the climbing fibres from the inferior olive. Still, the mechanism sustaining this oscillation remains to be deciphered. Our study sheds new light on the role of the olivo-cerebellar loop as the final output control of the intercerebellar circuitry.

Inferior Olive HCN1 Channels Coordinate Synaptic Integration and Complex Spike Timing

Cerebellar climbing-fiber-mediated complex spikes originate from neurons in the inferior olive (IO), are critical for motor coordination, and are central to theories of cerebellar learning. Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic-nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels expressed by IO neurons have been considered as pacemaker currents important for oscillatory and resonant dynamics. Here, we demonstrate that in vitro, network actions of HCN1 channels enable bidirectional glutamatergic synaptic responses, while local actions of HCN1 channels determine the timing and waveform of synaptically driven action potentials. These roles are distinct from, and may complement, proposed pacemaker functions of HCN channels. We find that in behaving animals HCN1 channels reduce variability in the timing of cerebellar complex spikes, which serve as a readout of IO spiking. Our results suggest that spatially distributed actions of HCN1 channels enable the IO to implement network-wide rules for synaptic integration that modulate the timing of cerebellar climbing fiber signals.

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HCN1 channels in IO neurons control synaptic response and spiking activity

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Network actions of HCN1 channels enable bidirectional synaptic responses

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Local actions of HCN1 channels control spike timing and spikelet number

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In awake mice, HCN1 channels reduce timing variability of cerebellar complex spikes

Electrical synapses in mammalian CNS: Past eras, present focus and future directions

Gap junctions provide the basis for electrical synapses between neurons. Early studies in well-defined circuits in lower vertebrates laid the foundation for understanding various properties conferred by electrical synaptic transmission. Knowledge surrounding electrical synapses in mammalian systems unfolded first with evidence indicating the presence of gap junctions between neurons in various brain regions, but with little appreciation of their functional roles. Beginning at about the turn of this century, new approaches were applied to scrutinize electrical synapses, revealing the prevalence of neuronal gap junctions, the connexin protein composition of many of those junctions, and the myriad diverse neural systems in which they occur in the mammalian CNS. Subsequent progress indicated that electrical synapses constitute key elements in synaptic circuitry, govern the collective activity of ensembles of electrically coupled neurons, and in part orchestrate the synchronized neuronal network activity and rhythmic oscillations that underlie fundamental integrative processes. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Gap Junction Proteins edited by Jean Claude Herve.

Brain circuits and neurochemical systems in essential tremor: insights into current and future pharmacotherapeutic approaches

INTRODUCTION

There are few medications that are available for the treatment of essential tremor (ET) and they are only moderately effective. Areas covered: Data were obtained from a PubMed search. Original articles, review articles, and clinical guidelines were included. Two disease models for ET have been proposed: 1) the olivary model, which attributes ET to a pathological pacemaker in the inferior olivary nucleus, and 2) the cerebellar degeneration model, which postulates that ET originates in the cerebellum and could be related to deficient or abnormal Purkinje cell (PC) output. Underlying biochemical dysfunction in T-type calcium channels (T-tCaC) may loosely be linked to the first model and deficiency/abnormality in γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurotransmission, to the second. Expert commentary: Human data points robustly to the role of GABA in ET. Numerous medications that target the GABA system have been tried, with variable success. Given the many different types of GABA-ergic neurons, and the multitude of GABA_A receptor subtypes, a given medication could have competing/cancelling effects. It would seem that influencing GABA receptors broadly is not as effective as targeting certain GABA_A receptor subtypes. Future research should seek to identify molecular candidates that have a more targeted effect within the GABA system.

Modulation of Murine Olivary Connexin 36 Gap Junctions by PKA and CaMKII

The inferior olive (IO) is a nucleus located in the brainstem and it is part of the olivo-cerebellar loop. This circuit plays a fundamental role in generation and acquisition of coherent motor patterns and it relies on synchronous activation of groups of Purkinje cells (PC) in the cerebellar cortex. IO neurons integrate their intrinsic oscillatory activity with excitatory inputs coming from the somatosensory system and inhibitory feedback coming from the cerebellar nuclei. Alongside these chemical synaptic inputs, IO neurons are coupled to one another via connexin 36 (Cx36) containing gap junctions (GJs) that create a functional syncytium between neurons. Communication between olivary neurons is regulated by these GJs and their correct functioning contributes to coherent oscillations in the IO and proper motor learning. Here, we explore the cellular pathways that can regulate the coupling between olivary neurons. We combined in vitro electrophysiology and immunohistochemistry (IHC) on mouse acute brain slices to unravel the pathways that regulate olivary coupling. We found that enhancing the activity of the protein kinase A (PKA) pathway and blocking the Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) pathway can both down-regulate the size of the coupled network. However, these two kinases follow different mechanisms of action. Our results suggest that activation of the PKA pathway reduces the opening probability of the Cx36 GJs, whereas inhibition of the CaMKII pathway reduces the number of Cx36 GJs. The low densities of Cx36 proteins and electrical synapses in βCaMKII knock-out mice point towards an essential role for this protein kinase in regulating the density of GJs in the IO. Thus, the level of olivary coupling is a dynamic process and regulated by a variety of enzymes modulating GJs expression, docking and activity.

The Potential Role of Gap Junctional Plasticity in the Regulation of State

Electrical synapses are the functional correlate of gap junctions and allow transmission of small molecules and electrical current between coupled neurons. Instead of static pores, electrical synapses are actually plastic, similar to chemical synapses. In the thalamocortical system, gap junctions couple inhibitory neurons that are similar in their biochemical profile, morphology, and electrophysiological properties. We postulate that electrical synaptic plasticity among inhibitory neurons directly interacts with the switching between different firing patterns in a state-dependent and type-dependent manner. In neuronal networks, electrical synapses may function as a modifiable resonance feedback system that enables stable oscillations. Furthermore, the plasticity of electrical synapses may play an important role in regulation of state, synchrony, and rhythmogenesis in the mammalian thalamocortical system, similar to chemical synaptic plasticity. Based on their plasticity, rich diversity, and specificity, electrical synapses are thus likely to participate in the control of consciousness and attention.

New insights into olivo-cerebellar circuits for learning from a small training sample

Artificial intelligence such as deep neural networks exhibited remarkable performance in simulated video games and 'Go'. In contrast, most humanoid robots in the DARPA Robotics Challenge fell down to ground. The dramatic contrast in performance is mainly due to differences in the amount of training data, which is huge and small, respectively. Animals are not allowed with millions of the failed trials, which lead to injury and death. Humans fall only several thousand times before they balance and walk. We hypothesize that a unique closed-loop neural circuit formed by the Purkinje cells, the cerebellar deep nucleus and the inferior olive in and around the cerebellum and the highest density of gap junctions, which regulate synchronous activities of the inferior olive nucleus, are computational machinery for learning from a small sample. We discuss recent experimental and computational advances associated with this hypothesis.

Emergence of local synchronization in neuronal networks with adaptive couplings

Local synchronization, both prolonged and transient, of oscillatory neuronal behavior in cortical networks plays a fundamental role in many aspects of perception and cognition. Here we study networks of Hindmarsh-Rose neurons with a new type of adaptive coupling, and show that these networks naturally produce both permanent and transient synchronization of local clusters of neurons. These deterministic systems exhibit complex dynamics with 1/f^η power spectra, which appears to be a consequence of a novel form of self-organized criticality.

Synchrony and so much more: Diverse roles for electrical synapses in neural circuits

Electrical synapses are neuronal gap junctions that are ubiquitous across brain regions and species. The biophysical properties of most electrical synapses are relatively simple-transcellular channels allow nearly ohmic, bidirectional flow of ionic current. Yet these connections can play remarkably diverse roles in different neural circuit contexts. Recent findings illustrate how electrical synapses may excite or inhibit, synchronize or desynchronize, augment or diminish rhythms, phase-shift, detect coincidences, enhance signals relative to noise, adapt, and interact with nonlinear membrane and transmitter-release mechanisms. Most of these functions are likely to be widespread in central nervous systems. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 77: 610-624, 2017.

Heterogeneous Expression of T-type Ca(2+) Channels Defines Different Neuronal Populations in the Inferior Olive of the Mouse

The neurons in the inferior olive express subthreshold oscillations in their membrane potential. This oscillatory activity is known to drive synchronous activity in the cerebellar cortex and plays a role in motor learning and motor timing. In the past years, it was commonly thought that olivary neurons belonged to a unique population of oscillating units and that oscillation properties were exclusively dependent on network settings and/or synaptic inputs. The origin of olivary oscillations is now known to be a local phenomenon and is generated by a combination of conductances. In the present work, we show the existence of at least two neuronal populations that can be distinguished on the basis of the presence or absence of low-voltage activated Ca²⁺ channels. The expression of this channel determines the oscillatory behavior of olivary neurons. Furthermore, the number of cells that express this channel is different between sub nuclei of the inferior olive. These findings clearly indicate the functional variability within and between olivary sub nuclei.

Ionic Basis for Membrane Potential Resonance in Neurons of the Inferior Olive

Some neurons have the ability to enhance output voltage to input current with a preferred frequency, which is called resonance. Resonance is thought to be a basis for membrane potential oscillation. Although ion channels responsible for resonance have been reported, the precise mechanisms by which these channels work remain poorly understood. We have found that resonance is reduced but clearly present in the inferior olivary neurons of Cav3.1 T-type voltage-dependent Ca(2+) channel knockout (KO) mice. The activation of Cav3.1 channels is strongly membrane potential dependent, but less frequency dependent. Residual resonance in Cav3.1 KO mice is abolished by a hyper-polarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channel blocker, ZD7288, and is partially suppressed by voltage-dependent K(+) channel blockers. Resonance is inhibited by ZD7288 in wild-type mice and impaired in HCN1 KO mice, suggesting that the HCN1 channel is essential for resonance. The ZD7288-sensitive current is nearly sinusoidal and strongly frequency dependent. These results suggest that Cav3.1 and HCN1 channels act as amplifying and resonating conductances, respectively.

Membrane potential resonance frequency directly influences network frequency through electrical coupling

Oscillatory networks often include neurons with membrane potential resonance, exhibiting a peak in the voltage amplitude as a function of current input at a nonzero (resonance) frequency (f_res). Although f_res has been correlated to the network frequency (f_net) in a variety of systems, a causal relationship between the two has not been established. We examine the hypothesis that combinations of biophysical parameters that shift f_res, without changing other attributes of the impedance profile, also shift f_net in the same direction. We test this hypothesis, computationally and experimentally, in an electrically coupled network consisting of intrinsic oscillator (O) and resonator (R) neurons. We use a two-cell model of such a network to show that increasing f_res of R directly increases f_net and that this effect becomes more prominent if the amplitude of resonance is increased. Notably, the effect of f_res on f_net is independent of the parameters that define the oscillator or the combination of parameters in R that produce the shift in f_res, as long as this combination produces the same impedance vs. frequency relationship. We use the dynamic clamp technique to experimentally verify the model predictions by connecting a model resonator to the pacemaker pyloric dilator neurons of the crab Cancer borealis pyloric network using electrical synapses and show that the pyloric network frequency can be shifted by changing f_res in the resonator. Our results provide compelling evidence that f_res and resonance amplitude strongly influence f_net, and therefore, modulators may target these attributes to modify rhythmic activity.

Connexin36 expression in major centers of the auditory system in the CNS of mouse and rat: Evidence for neurons forming purely electrical synapses and morphologically mixed synapses

Electrical synapses formed by gap junctions composed of connexin36 (Cx36) are widely distributed in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). Here, we used immunofluorescence methods to document the expression of Cx36 in the cochlear nucleus and in various structures of the auditory pathway of rat and mouse. Labeling of Cx36 visualized exclusively as Cx36-puncta was densely distributed primarily on the somata and initial dendrites of neuronal populations in the ventral cochlear nucleus, and was abundant in superficial layers of the dorsal cochlear nucleus. Other auditory centers displaying Cx36-puncta included the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB), regions surrounding the lateral superior olivary nucleus, the dorsal nucleus of the medial lemniscus, the nucleus sagulum, all subnuclei of the inferior colliculus, and the auditory cerebral cortex. In EGFP-Cx36 transgenic mice, EGFP reporter was detected in neurons located in each of auditory centers that harbored Cx36-puncta. In the ventral cochlear nuclei and the MNTB, many neuronal somata were heavily innervated by nerve terminals containing vesicular glutamate transporter-1 (vglut1) and Cx36 was frequently localized at these terminals. Cochlear ablation caused a near total depletion of vglut1-positive terminals in the ventral cochlear nuclei, with a commensurate loss of labeling for Cx36 around most neuronal somata, but preserved Cx36-puncta at somatic neuronal appositions. The results suggest that electrical synapses formed by Cx36-containing gap junctions occur in most of the widely distributed centers of the auditory system. Further, it appears that morphologically mixed chemical/electrical synapses formed by nerve terminals are abundant in the ventral cochlear nucleus, including those at endbulbs of Held formed by cochlear primary afferent fibers, and those at calyx of Held synapses on MNTB neurons.

Cerebellar inhibitory input to the inferior olive decreases electrical coupling and blocks subthreshold oscillations

GABAergic projection neurons in the cerebellar nuclei (CN) innervate the inferior olive (IO) that in turn is the source of climbing fibers targeting Purkinje neurons in the cerebellar cortex. Anatomical evidence suggests that CN synapses modulate electrical coupling between IO neurons. In vivo studies indicate that they are also involved in controlling synchrony and rhythmicity of IO neurons. Here, we demonstrate using virally targeted channelrhodopsin in the cerebellar nucleo-olivary neurons that synaptic input can indeed modulate both the strength and symmetry of electrical coupling between IO neurons and alter network activity. Similar synaptic modifications of electrical coupling are likely to occur in other brain regions, where rapid modification of the spatiotemporal features of the coupled networks is needed to adequately respond to behavioral demands.

Synaptically induced long-term modulation of electrical coupling in the inferior olive

Electrical coupling mediated by gap junctions is widespread in the mammalian CNS, and the interplay between chemical and electrical synapses on the millisecond timescale is crucial for determining patterns of synchrony in many neural circuits. Here we show that activation of glutamatergic synapses drives long-term depression of electrical coupling between neurons of the inferior olive. We demonstrate that this plasticity is not triggered by postsynaptic spiking alone and that it requires calcium entry following synaptic NMDA receptor activation. These results reveal that glutamatergic synapses can instruct plasticity at electrical synapses, providing a means for excitatory inputs to homeostatically regulate the long-term dynamics of microzones in olivocerebellar circuits.

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Chemical synapses trigger long-term depression of inferior olive electrical coupling

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Depression of electrical coupling requires NMDAR activation and calcium entry

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Plasticity is not triggered by postsynaptic spiking alone and EPSPs remain unchanged

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Excitatory inputs can thus homeostatically regulate synchrony patterns in the olive

Differential roles of nonsynaptic and synaptic plasticity in operant reward learning-induced compulsive behavior

BACKGROUND

Rewarding stimuli in associative learning can transform the irregularly and infrequently generated motor patterns underlying motivated behaviors into output for accelerated and stereotyped repetitive action. This transition to compulsive behavioral expression is associated with modified synaptic and membrane properties of central neurons, but establishing the causal relationships between cellular plasticity and motor adaptation has remained a challenge.

RESULTS

We found previously that changes in the intrinsic excitability and electrical synapses of identified neurons in Aplysia's central pattern-generating network for feeding are correlated with a switch to compulsive-like motor output expression induced by in vivo operant conditioning. Here, we used specific computer-simulated ionic currents in vitro to selectively replicate or suppress the membrane and synaptic plasticity resulting from this learning. In naive in vitro preparations, such experimental manipulation of neuronal membrane properties alone increased the frequency but not the regularity of feeding motor output found in preparations from operantly trained animals. On the other hand, changes in synaptic strength alone switched the regularity but not the frequency of feeding output from naive to trained states. However, simultaneously imposed changes in both membrane and synaptic properties reproduced both major aspects of the motor plasticity. Conversely, in preparations from trained animals, experimental suppression of the membrane and synaptic plasticity abolished the increase in frequency and regularity of the learned motor output expression.

CONCLUSIONS

These data establish direct causality for the contributions of distinct synaptic and nonsynaptic adaptive processes to complementary facets of a compulsive behavior resulting from operant reward learning.

The olivo-cerebellar system: a key to understanding the functional significance of intrinsic oscillatory brain properties

The reflexological view of brain function (Sherrington, 1906) has played a crucial role in defining both the nature of connectivity and the role of the synaptic interactions among neuronal circuits. One implicit assumption of this view, however, has been that CNS function is fundamentally driven by sensory input. This view was questioned as early as the beginning of the last century when a possible role for intrinsic activity in CNS function was proposed by Thomas Graham Brow (Brown, 1911, 1914). However, little progress was made in addressing intrinsic neuronal properties in vertebrates until the discovery of calcium conductances in vertebrate central neurons leading dendritic electroresponsiveness (Llinás and Hess, 1976; Llinás and Sugimori, 1980a,b) and subthreshold neuronal oscillation in mammalian inferior olive (IO) neurons (Llinás and Yarom, 1981a,b). This happened in parallel with a similar set of findings concerning invertebrate neuronal system (Marder and Bucher, 2001). The generalization into a more global view of intrinsic rhythmicity, at forebrain level, occurred initially with the demonstration that the thalamus has similar oscillatory properties (Llinás and Jahnsen, 1982) and the ionic properties responsible for some oscillatory activity were, in fact, similar to those in the IO (Jahnsen and Llinás, 1984; Llinás, 1988). Thus, lending support to the view that not only motricity, but cognitive properties, are organized as coherent oscillatory states (Pare et al., 1992; Singer, 1993; Hardcastle, 1997; Llinás et al., 1998; Varela et al., 2001).

The olivo-cerebellar system as a neural clock

The cerebellum, and the olivo-cerebellar system in particular, may be the central mechanism of a neural clock that provides a rhythmic neural signal used to time motor and cognitive processes. Several independent lines of evidence support this hypothesis. First, the resting membrane potential of neurons in the inferior olive oscillates at ~10 Hz and the neural input from the olive leads to rhythmic complex spikes in cerebellum Purkinje cells. Second, the repeating modular microstructure of the cerebellum is ideally suited for performing computations underlying a basic neural process such as timing. Third, damage to the cerebellum leads to deficits in the perception of time and in the production of timed movements. Fourth, functional imaging studies in human subjects have shown activation of the inferior olive specifically during time perception. However, additional data on the exact role of rhythmic cerebellar activity during basis motor and sensory processing will be necessary before the hypothesis that the cerebellum is a neural clock is more widely accepted.

Mechanisms contributing to cluster formation in the inferior olivary nucleus in brainstem slices from postnatal mice

The inferior olivary nucleus (IO) in in vitro slices from postnatal mice (P5.5-P15.5) spontaneously generates clusters of neurons with synchronous calcium transients, and intracellular recordings from IO neurons suggest that electrical coupling between neighbouring IO neurons may serve as a synchronizing mechanism. Here, we studied the cluster-forming mechanism and find that clusters overlap extensively with an overlap distribution that resembles the distribution for a random overlap model. The average somatodendritic field size of single curly IO neurons was ∼6400 μm(2), which is slightly smaller than the average IO cluster size. Eighty-seven neurons with overlapping dendrites were estimated to be contained in the principal olive mean cluster size, and about six non-overlapping curly IO neurons could be contained within the largest clusters. Clusters could also be induced by iontophoresis with glutamate. Induced clusters were inhibited by tetrodotoxin, carbenoxelone and 18β-glycyrrhetinic acid, suggesting that sodium action potentials and electrical coupling are involved in glutamate-induced cluster formation, which could also be induced by activation of N-methyl-d-aspartate and α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors. Spikelets and a small transient depolarizing response were observed during glutamate-induced cluster formation. Calcium transients spread with decreasing velocity during cluster formation, and somatic action potentials and cluster formation are accompanied by large dendritic calcium transients. In conclusion, cluster formation depends on gap junctions, sodium action potentials and spontaneous clusters occur randomly throughout the IO. The relative slow signal spread during cluster formation, combined with a strong dendritic influx of calcium, may signify that active dendritic properties contribute to cluster formation.

Transient dynamics and rhythm coordination of inferior olive spatio-temporal patterns

The inferior olive (IO) is a neural network belonging to the olivo-cerebellar system whose neurons are coupled with electrical synapses and display subthreshold oscillations and spiking activity. The IO is frequently proposed as the generator of timing signals to the cerebellum. Electrophysiological and imaging recordings show that the IO network generates complex spatio-temporal patterns. The generation and modulation of coherent spiking activity in the IO is one key issue in cerebellar research. In this work, we build a large scale IO network model of electrically coupled conductance-based neurons to study the emerging spatio-temporal patterns of its transient neuronal activity. Our modeling reproduces and helps to understand important phenomena observed in IO in vitro and in vivo experiments, and draws new predictions regarding the computational properties of this network and the associated cerebellar circuits. The main factors studied governing the collective dynamics of the IO network were: the degree of electrical coupling, the extent of the electrotonic connections, the presence of stimuli or regions with different excitability levels and the modulatory effect of an inhibitory loop (IL). The spatio-temporal patterns were analyzed using a discrete wavelet transform to provide a quantitative characterization. Our results show that the electrotonic coupling produces quasi-synchronized subthreshold oscillations over a wide dynamical range. The synchronized oscillatory activity plays the role of a timer for a coordinated representation of spiking rhythms with different frequencies. The encoding and coexistence of several coordinated rhythms is related to the different clusterization and coherence of transient spatio-temporal patterns in the network, where the spiking activity is commensurate with the quasi-synchronized subthreshold oscillations. In the presence of stimuli, different rhythms are encoded in the spiking activity of the IO neurons that nevertheless remains constrained to a commensurate value of the subthreshold frequency. The stimuli induced spatio-temporal patterns can reverberate for long periods, which contributes to the computational properties of the IO. We also show that the presence of regions with different excitability levels creates sinks and sources of coordinated activity which shape the propagation of spike wave fronts. These results can be generalized beyond IO studies, as the control of wave pattern propagation is a highly relevant problem in the context of normal and pathological states in neural systems (e.g., related to tremor, migraine, epilepsy) where the study of the modulation of activity sinks and sources can have a potential large impact.

Linking oscillations in cerebellar circuits

In many neuroscience fields, the study of local and global rhythmicity has been receiving increasing attention. These network influences could directly impact on how neuronal groups interact together, organizing for different contexts. The cerebellar cortex harbors a variety of such local circuit rhythms, from the rhythms in the cerebellar cortex per se, or those dictated from important afferents. We present here certain cerebellar oscillatory phenomena that have been recorded in rodents and primates. Those take place in a range of frequencies: from the more known oscillations in the 4-25 Hz band, such as the olivocerebellar oscillatory activity and the granule cell layer oscillations, to the more recently reported slow (<1 Hz oscillations), and the fast (>150 Hz) activity in the Purkinje cell layer. Many of these oscillations appear spontaneously in the circuits, and are modulated by behavioral imperatives. We review here how those oscillations are recorded, some of their modulatory mechanisms, and also identify some of the cerebellar nodes where they could interact. A particular emphasis has been placed on how these oscillations could be modulated by movement and certain neuropathological manifestations. Many of those oscillations could have a definite impact on the way information is processed in the cerebellum and how it interacts with other structures in a variety of contexts.

Beyond "all-or-nothing" climbing fibers: graded representation of teaching signals in Purkinje cells

Arguments about the function of the climbing fiber (CF) input to the cerebellar cortex have fueled a rabid debate that started over 40 years ago, and continues to polarize the field to this day. The origin of the controversy can be traced back to 1969, the year David Marr published part of his dissertation work in a paper entitled “A theory of cerebellar cortex.” In Marr’s theory, CFs play a key role during the process of motor learning, providing an instructive signal that serves as a “teacher” for the post-synaptic Purkinje cells. Although this influential idea has found its way into the mainstream, a number of objections have been raised. For example, several investigators have pointed out that the seemingly “all-or-nothing” activation of the CF input provides little information and is too ambiguous to serve as an effective instructive signal. Here, we take a fresh look at these arguments in light of new evidence about the peculiar physiology of CFs. Based on recent findings we propose that at the level of an individual Purkinje cell, a graded instructive signal can be effectively encoded via pre- or post-synaptic modulation of its one and only CF input.