Ventromedial Thalamus-Projecting DCN Neurons Modulate Associative Sensorimotor Responses in Mice

Zhang, Jie; Chen, Hao; Zhang, Libin; Li, Rongrong; Wang, Bin; Zhang, Qianhui; Tong, Liu-Xia; Zhang, Weiwei; Yao, Zhong-Xiang; Hu, Bo

doi:10.1007/s12264-021-00810-9

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 58 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The full extent of the diversity of brain regions that receive direct cerebellar inputs has only recently become recognized, and for the majority of postcerebellar targets, no detailed descriptions are available beyond mesoscale density estimations [35,268]. Among the multitude of known glutamatergic extracerebellar target regions, the synaptic function and organization is probably the best studied for thalamic [147,222,[269][270][271][272], ventral tegmental area [273] and rubral [274,275] projections. In these regions, glutamatergic CN axons form synaptic terminals on target neurons' proximal dendrites and/or somata, and synaptic transmission has been shown capable of following axonal stimulation at least up to several tens of Hz without significant depression.…”

Section: Excitatory Extracerebellar Efferentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cerebellum Lecture: the Cerebellar Nuclei—Core of the Cerebellum

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The cerebellum is a key player in many brain functions and a major topic of neuroscience research. However, the cerebellar nuclei (CN), the main output structures of the cerebellum, are often overlooked. This neglect is because research on the cerebellum typically focuses on the cortex and tends to treat the CN as relatively simple output nuclei conveying an inverted signal from the cerebellar cortex to the rest of the brain. In this review, by adopting a nucleocentric perspective we aim to rectify this impression. First, we describe CN anatomy and modularity and comprehensively integrate CN architecture with its highly organized but complex afferent and efferent connectivity. This is followed by a novel classification of the specific neuronal classes the CN comprise and speculate on the implications of CN structure and physiology for our understanding of adult cerebellar function. Based on this thorough review of the adult literature we provide a comprehensive overview of CN embryonic development and, by comparing cerebellar structures in various chordate clades, propose an interpretation of CN evolution. Despite their critical importance in cerebellar function, from a clinical perspective intriguingly few, if any, neurological disorders appear to primarily affect the CN. To highlight this curious anomaly, and encourage future nucleocentric interpretations, we build on our review to provide a brief overview of the various syndromes in which the CN are currently implicated. Finally, we summarize the specific perspectives that a nucleocentric view of the cerebellum brings, move major outstanding issues in CN biology to the limelight, and provide a roadmap to the key questions that need to be answered in order to create a comprehensive integrated model of CN structure, function, development, and evolution.

show abstract

Section: Excitatory Extracerebellar Efferentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cerebellum Lecture: the Cerebellar Nuclei—Core of the Cerebellum

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A significant eyeblink response was defined as exceeding the average baseline by 4 SDs of the baseline activity for a minimum of 25 ms duration. Any significant eyeblink response during the periods mentioned above was counted as a CR or a UR, respectively (Zhang et al, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustained Activity of Hippocampal Parvalbumin-Expressing Interneurons Supports Trace Eyeblink Conditioning in Mice

Zhang²,

Zhang³

et al. 2022

J. Neurosci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although recent studies have revealed an involvement of hippocampal interneurons in learning the association among time-separated events, its underlying cellular mechanisms remained not fully clarified. Here, we combined multichannel recording and optogenetics to elucidate how the hippocampal parvalbumin-expressing interneurons (PV-INs) support associative learning. To address this issue, we trained the mice (both sexes) to learn hippocampus-dependent trace eyeblink conditioning (tEBC) in which they associated a light flash conditioned stimulus (CS) with a corneal air puff unconditioned stimuli (US) separated by a 250 ms time interval. We found that the hippocampal PV-INs exhibited learning-associated sustained activity at the early stage of tEBC acquisition. Moreover, the PV-IN sustained activity was positively correlated with the occurrence of conditioned eyeblink responses at the early learning stage. Suppression of the PV-IN sustained activity impaired the acquisition of tEBC, whereas the PV-IN activity suppression had no effect on the acquisition of delay eyeblink conditioning, a hippocampus-independent learning task. Learning-associated augmentation in the excitatory pyramidal cell-to-PVIN drive may contribute to the formation of PV-IN sustained activity. Suppression of the PV-IN sustained activity disrupted hippocampal gamma but not theta band oscillation during the CS-US interval period. Gamma frequency (40 Hz) activation of the PV-INs during the CS-US interval period facilitated the acquisition of tEBC. Our current findings highlight the involvement of hippocampal PV-INs in tEBC acquisition and reveal insights into the PV-IN activity kinetics which are of key importance for the hippocampal involvement in associative learning.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTThe cellular mechanisms underlying associative learning have not been fully clarified. Previous studies focused on the involvement of hippocampal pyramidal cells in associative learning, whereas the activity and function of hippocampal interneurons were largely neglected. We herein demonstrated the hippocampal PV-INs exhibited learning-associated sustained activity, which was required for the acquisition of tEBC. Furthermore, we showed evidence that the PV-IN sustained activity might have arisen from the learning-associated augmentation in excitatory pyramidal cell-to-PVIN drive and contributed to learning-associated augmentation in gamma band oscillation during tEBC acquisition. Our findings provide more mechanistic understanding of the cellular mechanisms underlying the hippocampal involvement in associative learning.

show abstract

Three-dimensional Heterogeneity and Intrinsic Plasticity of the Projection from the Cerebellar Interposed Nucleus to the Ventral Tegmental Area

Wang,

et al. 2024

Neurosci. Bull.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ventromedial Thalamus-Projecting DCN Neurons Modulate Associative Sensorimotor Responses in Mice

Cited by 6 publications

References 58 publications

Cerebellum Lecture: the Cerebellar Nuclei—Core of the Cerebellum

Cerebellum Lecture: the Cerebellar Nuclei—Core of the Cerebellum

Sustained Activity of Hippocampal Parvalbumin-Expressing Interneurons Supports Trace Eyeblink Conditioning in Mice

Three-dimensional Heterogeneity and Intrinsic Plasticity of the Projection from the Cerebellar Interposed Nucleus to the Ventral Tegmental Area

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About