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Dijkhuizen S, Van Ginneken LMC, IJpelaar AHC, Koekkoek SKE, De Zeeuw CI, Boele HJ. Impact of enriched environment on motor performance and learning in mice. Sci Rep 2024; 14:5962. [PMID: 38472324 PMCID: PMC10933351 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-56568-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Neuroscience heavily relies on animal welfare in laboratory rodents as it can significantly affect brain development, cognitive function and memory formation. Unfortunately, laboratory animals are often raised in artificial environments devoid of physical and social stimuli, potentially leading to biased outcomes in behavioural assays. To assess this effect, we examined the impact of social and physical cage enrichment on various forms of motor coordination. Our findings indicate that while enriched-housed animals did not exhibit faster learning in eyeblink conditioning, the peak timing of their conditioned responses was slightly, but significantly, improved. Additionally, enriched-housed animals outperformed animals that were housed in standard conditions in the accelerating rotarod and ErasmusLadder test. In contrast, we found no significant effect of enrichment on the balance beam and grip strength test. Overall, our data suggest that an enriched environment can improve motor performance and motor learning under challenging and/or novel circumstances, possibly reflecting an altered state of anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Dijkhuizen
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - L M C Van Ginneken
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - A H C IJpelaar
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - S K E Koekkoek
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - C I De Zeeuw
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), 1105 BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - H J Boele
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton, NJ, 08540, USA.
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Boele HJ, Jung C, Sherry S, Roggeveen LEM, Dijkhuizen S, Öhman J, Abraham E, Uvarov A, Boele CP, Gultig K, Rasmussen A, Vinueza-Veloz MF, Medina JF, Koekkoek SKE, De Zeeuw CI, Wang SSH. Accessible and reliable neurometric testing in humans using a smartphone platform. Sci Rep 2023; 13:22871. [PMID: 38129487 PMCID: PMC10739701 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49568-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 12/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Tests of human brain circuit function typically require fixed equipment in lab environments. We have developed a smartphone-based platform for neurometric testing. This platform, which uses AI models like computer vision, is optimized for at-home use and produces reproducible, robust results on a battery of tests, including eyeblink conditioning, prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle response, and startle habituation. This approach provides a scalable, universal resource for quantitative assays of central nervous system function.
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Affiliation(s)
- H J Boele
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton, USA.
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - C Jung
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton, USA
| | - S Sherry
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton, USA
| | - L E M Roggeveen
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - S Dijkhuizen
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - J Öhman
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - E Abraham
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton, USA
| | | | - C P Boele
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - K Gultig
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - A Rasmussen
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - M F Vinueza-Veloz
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Community Medicine and Global Health, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - J F Medina
- Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, USA
| | - S K E Koekkoek
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - C I De Zeeuw
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - S S-H Wang
- Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton, USA.
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Ottenhoff MJ, Dijkhuizen S, Ypelaar ACH, de Oude NL, Koekkoek SKE, Wang SSH, De Zeeuw CI, Elgersma Y, Boele HJ. Cerebellum-dependent associative learning is not impaired in a mouse model of neurofibromatosis type 1. Sci Rep 2022; 12:19041. [PMID: 36351971 PMCID: PMC9646701 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-21429-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals with Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) experience a high degree of motor problems. The cerebellum plays a pivotal role in motor functioning and the NF1 gene is highly expressed in cerebellar Purkinje cells. However, it is not well understood to what extent NF1 affects cerebellar functioning and how this relates to NF1 motor functioning. Therefore, we subjected global Nf1+/- mice to a cerebellum-dependent associative learning task, called Pavlovian eyeblink conditioning. Additionally, we assessed general motor function and muscle strength in Nf1+/- mice. To our surprise, we found that Nf1+/- mice showed a moderately increased learning rate of conditioned eyeblink responses, as well as improved accuracy in the adaptive timing of the eyeblink responses. Locomotion, balance, general motor function, and muscle strength were not affected in Nf1+/- mice. Together, our results support the view that cerebellar function in Nf1+/- mice is unimpaired.
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Affiliation(s)
- M J Ottenhoff
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- The ENCORE Expertise Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, 3015GD, The Netherlands
| | - S Dijkhuizen
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - A C H Ypelaar
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - N L de Oude
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - S K E Koekkoek
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - S S-H Wang
- Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - C I De Zeeuw
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, 1105 BA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Y Elgersma
- The ENCORE Expertise Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, 3015GD, The Netherlands
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Erasmus MC, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - H J Boele
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
- Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Washington Road, Princeton, NJ, USA.
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4
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Ten Brinke MM, Boele HJ, De Zeeuw CI. Conditioned climbing fiber responses in cerebellar cortex and nuclei. Neurosci Lett 2018; 688:26-36. [PMID: 29689340 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2018.04.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2018] [Revised: 04/17/2018] [Accepted: 04/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The eyeblink conditioning paradigm captures an elementary form of associative learning in a neural circuitry that is understood to an extraordinary degree. Cerebellar cortical Purkinje cell simple spike suppression is widely regarded as the main process underlying conditioned responses (CRs), leading to disinhibition of neurons in the cerebellar nuclei that innervate eyelid muscles downstream. However, recent work highlights the addition of a conditioned Purkinje cell complex spike response, which at the level of the interposed nucleus seems to translate to a transient spike suppression that can be followed by a rapid spike facilitation. Here, we review the characteristics of these responses at the cerebellar cortical and nuclear level, and discuss possible origins and functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- M M Ten Brinke
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - H J Boele
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - C I De Zeeuw
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus Medical Center, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), 1105 BA Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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Schonewille M, Belmeguenai A, Koekkoek SK, Houtman SH, Boele HJ, van Beugen BJ, Gao Z, Badura A, Ohtsuki G, Amerika WE, Hosy E, Hoebeek FE, Elgersma Y, Hansel C, De Zeeuw CI. Purkinje cell-specific knockout of the protein phosphatase PP2B impairs potentiation and cerebellar motor learning. Neuron 2010; 67:618-28. [PMID: 20797538 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2010.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 175] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/24/2010] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Cerebellar motor learning is required to obtain procedural skills. Studies have provided supportive evidence for a potential role of kinase-mediated long-term depression (LTD) at the parallel fiber to Purkinje cell synapse in cerebellar learning. Recently, phosphatases have been implicated in the induction of potentiation of Purkinje cell activities in vitro, but it remains to be shown whether and how phosphatase-mediated potentiation contributes to motor learning. Here, we investigated its possible role by creating and testing a Purkinje cell-specific knockout of calcium/calmodulin-activated protein-phosphatase-2B (L7-PP2B). The selective deletion of PP2B indeed abolished postsynaptic long-term potentiation in Purkinje cells and their ability to increase their excitability, whereas LTD was unaffected. The mutants showed impaired "gain-decrease" and "gain-increase" adaptation of their vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) as well as impaired acquisition of classical delay conditioning of their eyeblink response. Thus, our data indicate that PP2B may indeed mediate potentiation in Purkinje cells and contribute prominently to cerebellar motor learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Schonewille
- Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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