To study cerebellar activity during learning, we made whole-cell recordings from larval zebrafish Purkinje cells while monitoring fictive swimming during associative conditioning. Fish learned to swim in response to visual stimulation preceding tactile stimulation of the tail. Learning was abolished by cerebellar ablation. All Purkinje cells showed task-related activity. Based on how many complex spikes emerged during learned swimming, they were classified as multiple, single, or zero complex spike (MCS, SCS, ZCS) cells. With learning, MCS and ZCS cells developed increased climbing fiber (MCS) or parallel fiber (ZCS) input during visual stimulation; SCS cells fired complex spikes associated with learned swimming episodes. The categories correlated with location. Optogenetically suppressing simple spikes only during visual stimulation demonstrated that simple spikes are required for acquisition and early stages of expression of learned responses, but not their maintenance, consistent with a transient, instructive role for simple spikes during cerebellar learning in larval zebrafish.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.22537.001

Ultrasound has been used to non-invasively manipulate neuronal functions in humans and other animals. However, this approach is limited as it has been challenging to target specific cells within the brain or body. Here, we identify human Transient Receptor Potential A1 (hsTRPA1) as a candidate that confers ultrasound sensitivity to mammalian cells. Ultrasound-evoked gating of hsTRPA1 specifically requires its N-terminal tip region and cholesterol interactions; and target cells with an intact actin cytoskeleton, revealing elements of the sonogenetic mechanism. Next, we use calcium imaging and electrophysiology to show that hsTRPA1 potentiates ultrasound-evoked responses in primary neurons. Furthermore, unilateral expression of hsTRPA1 in mouse layer V motor cortical neurons leads to c-fos expression and contralateral limb responses in response to ultrasound delivered through an intact skull. Collectively, we demonstrate that hsTRPA1-based sonogenetics can effectively manipulate neurons within the intact mammalian brain, a method that could be used across species.

Our understanding of the nervous system has been fundamentally advanced by light- and small molecule-sensitive proteins that can be used to modify neuronal excitability. However, optogenetics requires invasive instrumentation while chemogenetics lacks temporal control. Here, we identify a candidate channel that confers sensitivity to non-invasive ultrasound on millisecond timescales. Using a functional screen, we find that human Transient Receptor Potential A1 (hsTRPA1) increases ultrasound-evoked intracellular calcium levels and membrane potentials. Ultrasound, but not agonist, -evoked, gating of hsTRPA1, requires the N-terminal tip region, intact actin cytoskeleton, and cholesterol, implicating these features in the sonogenetic mechanism. We then use calcium imaging and electrophysiology to confirm that ultrasound-evoked responses of primary neurons are potentiated by hsTRPA1. We also show that unilateral expression of hsTRPA1 in mouse layer V motor cortical neurons leads to ultrasound-evoked contralateral limb responses to ultrasound delivered through an intact skull. Finally, ultrasound induces c-fos in hsTRPA1-expressing neurons, suggesting that our approach can be used for targeted activation of neural circuits. Together, our results demonstrate that hsTRPA1-based sonogenetics can effectively and non-invasively modulate neurons within the intact mammalian brain, a method that could be extended to other cell types across species.