The deep cerebellar nuclei(DCN)integrate various inputs to the cerebellum and form the final cerebellar outputs critical for associative sensorimotor learning.However,the functional relevance of distinct neuronal subp...The deep cerebellar nuclei(DCN)integrate various inputs to the cerebellum and form the final cerebellar outputs critical for associative sensorimotor learning.However,the functional relevance of distinct neuronal subpopulations within the DCN remains poorly understood.Here,we examined a subpopulation of mouse DCN neurons whose axons specifically project to the ventromedial(Vm)thalamus(DCNVm neurons),and found that these neurons represent a specific subset of DCN units whose activity varies with trace eyeblink conditioning(tEBC),a classical associative sensorimotor learning task.Upon conditioning,the activity of DCNVm neurons signaled the performance of conditioned eyeblink responses(CRs).Optogenetic activation and inhibition of the DCNVm neurons in well-trained mice amplified and diminished the CRs,respectively.Chemogenetic manipulation of the DCNVm neurons had no effects on non-associative motor coordination.Furthermore,optogenetic activation of the DCNVm neurons caused rapid elevated firing activity in the cingulate cortex,a brain area critical for bridging the time gap between sensory stimuli and motor execution during tEBC.Together,our data highlights DCNVm neurons’function and delineates their kinematic parameters that modulate the strength of associative sensorimotor responses.展开更多
基金This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(81871039)the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing Municipality(cstc2019jcyj-msxmX0424)+1 种基金the Frontier Interdisciplinary Project of the College of Basic Sciences(2020JCZX02)the Special Training Program for Undergraduates of Army Medical University(2020XBK09 and 2021XBK45).
文摘The deep cerebellar nuclei(DCN)integrate various inputs to the cerebellum and form the final cerebellar outputs critical for associative sensorimotor learning.However,the functional relevance of distinct neuronal subpopulations within the DCN remains poorly understood.Here,we examined a subpopulation of mouse DCN neurons whose axons specifically project to the ventromedial(Vm)thalamus(DCNVm neurons),and found that these neurons represent a specific subset of DCN units whose activity varies with trace eyeblink conditioning(tEBC),a classical associative sensorimotor learning task.Upon conditioning,the activity of DCNVm neurons signaled the performance of conditioned eyeblink responses(CRs).Optogenetic activation and inhibition of the DCNVm neurons in well-trained mice amplified and diminished the CRs,respectively.Chemogenetic manipulation of the DCNVm neurons had no effects on non-associative motor coordination.Furthermore,optogenetic activation of the DCNVm neurons caused rapid elevated firing activity in the cingulate cortex,a brain area critical for bridging the time gap between sensory stimuli and motor execution during tEBC.Together,our data highlights DCNVm neurons’function and delineates their kinematic parameters that modulate the strength of associative sensorimotor responses.
