Dynamic Synchronization of Purkinje Cell Simple Spikes

2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (6) ◽  
pp. 3485-3491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soon-Lim Shin ◽  
Erik De Schutter
Keyword(s):  
Purkinje Cell ◽  
Firing Rate ◽  
Purkinje Cells ◽  
Cerebellar Cortex ◽  
Cerebellar Nuclei ◽  
Temporal Coding ◽  
Sharp Peak ◽  
Deep Cerebellar Nuclei

Purkinje cells (PCs) integrate all computations performed in the cerebellar cortex to inhibit neurons in the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN). Simple spikes recorded in vivo from pairs of PCs separated by <100 μm are known to be synchronized with a sharp peak riding on a broad peak, but the significance of this finding is unclear. We show that the sharp peak consists exclusively of simple spikes associated with pauses in firing. The broader, less precise peak was caused by firing-rate co-modulation of faster firing spikes. About 13% of all pauses were synchronized, and these pauses had a median duration of 20 ms. As in vitro studies have reported that synchronous pauses can reliably trigger spikes in DCN neurons, we suggest that the subgroup of spikes causing the sharp peak is important for precise temporal coding in the cerebellum.

Effects of red nucleus inactivation on burst discharge in turtle cerebellum in vitro: evidence for positive feedback

1996 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 2200-2210 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Keifer
Keyword(s):  
Cerebellar Cortex ◽  
Positive Feedback ◽  
Red Nucleus ◽  
Cerebellar Nuclei ◽  
Cerebellar Nucleus ◽  
Normal Brain ◽  
Deep Cerebellar Nuclei ◽  
Burst Discharge ◽  
Sustained Discharge

1. In behaving animals the red nucleus produces sustained action potential discharge during movements of the limbs. These bursts are thought to encode parameters of movement and thereby represent motor commands. Similar bursts can be recorded in the in vitro brain stem-cerebellum from the turtle. In this preparation, sustained discharge of red nucleus neurons was postulated to be generated by N-methyl-D-aspartate-mediated cellular mechanisms acting in combination with positive feedback in a recurrent cerebellorubral network. The present study was designed to test this positive feedback hypothesis. During recording of sustained discharge in the deep cerebellar nuclei and cortex, the red nucleus was reversibly inactivated by microinjection. The positive feedback hypothesis would be supported if activity in the cerebellum was attenuated by inactivation of the red nucleus. A nonrecurrent source of excitation would have to be postulated if cerebellar activity was unaffected. 2. Extracellular single-unit recordings were made from neurons in the deep cerebellar nuclei, cerebellar cortex, and vestibular nuclei. Burst discharges were evoked by brief electrical stimuli applied to the spinal cord that activated sensory structures. During inactivation of the red nucleus, sensory projections to the cerebellum that may evoke burst discharge were unaffected. Pressure microinjections of cobalt, lidocaine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), or 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX) were used to reversibly inactivate the red nucleus. Saline injections were also tested. 3. Sustained discharge of all neurons recorded in the lateral cerebellar nucleus was greatly attenuated or blocked completely by injection of the pharmacological agents into the red nucleus. These effects were reversible. Of the recordings in the cerebellar cortex, 63% of these were blocked. All four compounds tested were effective blockers of the bursts, although the effects of GABA were less potent than the others. Saline injections into the red nucleus showed no effect. Burst discharges of single units recorded in either the medial cerebellar nucleus or the vestibular complex, which do not receive input from the red nucleus, showed no effect of red nucleus inactivation. 4. The results showed that sustained discharge in the cerebellum was significantly attenuated by inactivation of the red nucleus even though sensory input that may trigger the bursts was intact. These data support the hypothesis that sustained discharge in the cerebellorubral circuit is generated by a distributed neuronal network that uses positive feedback. The results have implications for mechanisms underlying normal brain function and some motor disorders.

scholarly journals Cerebellar nuclei excitatory neurons regulate developmental scaling of presynaptic Purkinje cell number and organ growth

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan T Willett ◽  
N Sumru Bayin ◽  
Andrew S Lee ◽  
Anjana Krishnamurthy ◽  
Alexandre Wojcinski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Purkinje Cell ◽  
Purkinje Cells ◽  
Cerebellar Cortex ◽  
Granule Cells ◽  
Postnatal Growth ◽  
Cerebellar Nuclei ◽  
Cell Number ◽  
Conditional Knockout ◽  
Neural Systems ◽  
Scaling Down

For neural systems to function effectively, the numbers of each cell type must be proportioned properly during development. We found that conditional knockout of the mouse homeobox genes En1 and En2 in the excitatory cerebellar nuclei neurons (eCN) leads to reduced postnatal growth of the cerebellar cortex. A subset of medial and intermediate eCN are lost in the mutants, with an associated cell non-autonomous loss of their presynaptic partner Purkinje cells by birth leading to proportional scaling down of neuron production in the postnatal cerebellar cortex. Genetic killing of embryonic eCN throughout the cerebellum also leads to loss of Purkinje cells and reduced postnatal growth but throughout the cerebellar cortex. Thus, the eCN play a key role in scaling the size of the cerebellum by influencing the survival of their Purkinje cell partners, which in turn regulate production of granule cells and interneurons via the amount of sonic hedgehog secreted.

scholarly journals Calcium imaging reveals coordinated simple spike pauses in populations of Cerebellar Purkinje cells

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge E. Ramirez ◽  
Brandon M. Stell
Keyword(s):  
Purkinje Cell ◽  
Purkinje Cells ◽  
Calcium Imaging ◽  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Cell Activity ◽  
Cerebellar Nuclei ◽  
Deep Cerebellar Nuclei ◽  
Firing Rates ◽  
Simple Spike ◽  
Cerebellar Purkinje Cells

The brain’s control of movement is thought to involve coordinated activity between cerebellar Purkinje cells. The results reported here demonstrate that somatic Ca2+ imaging is a faithful reporter of Na+-dependent “simple spike” pauses and enables us to optically record changes in firing rates in populations of Purkinje cells. This simultaneous calcium imaging of populations of Purkinje cells reveals a striking spatial organization of pauses in Purkinje cell activity between neighboring cells. The source of this organization is shown to be the presynaptic GABAergic network and blocking GABAARs abolishes the synchrony. These data suggest that presynaptic interneurons synchronize (in)activity between neighboring Purkinje cells and thereby maximize their effect on downstream targets in the deep cerebellar nuclei.

scholarly journals A novel inhibitory nucleo-cortical circuit controls cerebellar Golgi cell activity

eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lea Ankri ◽  
Zoé Husson ◽  
Katarzyna Pietrajtis ◽  
Rémi Proville ◽  
Clément Léna ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cerebellar Cortex ◽  
Motor Coordination ◽  
Granule Cells ◽  
Cell Activity ◽  
Cerebellar Nuclei ◽  
Golgi Cell ◽  
Main Mode ◽  
Golgi Cells

The cerebellum, a crucial center for motor coordination, is composed of a cortex and several nuclei. The main mode of interaction between these two parts is considered to be formed by the inhibitory control of the nuclei by cortical Purkinje neurons. We now amend this view by showing that inhibitory GABA-glycinergic neurons of the cerebellar nuclei (CN) project profusely into the cerebellar cortex, where they make synaptic contacts on a GABAergic subpopulation of cerebellar Golgi cells. These spontaneously firing Golgi cells are inhibited by optogenetic activation of the inhibitory nucleo-cortical fibers both in vitro and in vivo. Our data suggest that the CN may contribute to the functional recruitment of the cerebellar cortex by decreasing Golgi cell inhibition onto granule cells.

scholarly journals The Whisking Rhythm Generator: A Novel Mammalian Network for the Generation of Movement

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 2148-2158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan P. Cramer ◽  
Ying Li ◽  
Asaf Keller
Keyword(s):  
Firing Rate ◽  
Serotonin Receptor ◽  
Central Pattern Generators ◽  
Rhythm Generator ◽  
Low Concentrations ◽  
Rhythmic Firing ◽  
Pattern Generators ◽  
Cortical Inputs

Using the rat vibrissa system, we provide evidence for a novel mechanism for the generation of movement. Like other central pattern generators (CPGs) that underlie many movements, the rhythm generator for whisking can operate without cortical inputs or sensory feedback. However, unlike conventional mammalian CPGs, vibrissa motoneurons (vMNs) actively participate in the rhythmogenesis by converting tonic serotonergic inputs into the patterned motor output responsible for movement of the vibrissae. We find that, in vitro, a serotonin receptor agonist, α-Me-5HT, facilitates a persistent inward current (PIC) and evokes rhythmic firing in vMNs. Within each motoneuron, increasing the concentration of α-Me-5HT significantly increases the both the magnitude of the PIC and the motoneuron's firing rate. Riluzole, which selectively suppresses the Na+ component of PICs at low concentrations, causes a reduction in both of these phenomena. The magnitude of this reduction is directly correlated with the concentration of riluzole. The joint effects of riluzole on PIC magnitude and firing rate in vMNs suggest that the two are causally related. In vivo we find that the tonic activity of putative serotonergic premotoneurons is positively correlated with the frequency of whisking evoked by cortical stimulation. Taken together, these results support the hypothesized novel mammalian mechanism for movement generation in the vibrissa motor system where vMNs actively participate in the rhythmogenesis in response to tonic drive from serotonergic premotoneurons.

scholarly journals Cerebellar implementation of movement sequences through feedback

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrei Khilkevich ◽  
Juan Zambrano ◽  
Molly-Marie Richards ◽  
Michael Dean Mauk
Keyword(s):  
Purkinje Cells ◽  
Cerebellar Cortex ◽  
General Framework ◽  
Eyelid Conditioning ◽  
Mossy Fibers ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Single Component ◽  
Associate Learning ◽  
Stimulation Of

Most movements are not unitary, but are comprised of sequences. Although patients with cerebellar pathology display severe deficits in the execution and learning of sequences (Doyon et al., 1997; Shin and Ivry, 2003), most of our understanding of cerebellar mechanisms has come from analyses of single component movements. Eyelid conditioning is a cerebellar-mediated behavior that provides the ability to control and restrict inputs to the cerebellum through stimulation of mossy fibers. We utilized this advantage to test directly how the cerebellum can learn a sequence of inter-connected movement components in rabbits. We show that the feedback signals from one component are sufficient to serve as a cue for the next component in the sequence. In vivo recordings from Purkinje cells demonstrated that all components of the sequence were encoded similarly by cerebellar cortex. These results provide a simple yet general framework for how the cerebellum can use simple associate learning processes to chain together a sequence of appropriately timed responses.

scholarly journals Stereotyped spatial patterns of functional synaptic connectivity in the cerebellar cortex

eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine M Valera ◽  
Francesca Binda ◽  
Sophie A Pawlowski ◽  
Jean-Luc Dupont ◽  
Jean-François Casella ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Purkinje Cells ◽  
Cerebellar Cortex ◽  
Granule Cell ◽  
Motor Coordination ◽  
Molecular Layer ◽  
Granule Cell Layer ◽  
Synaptic Organization ◽  
Cerebellar Modules ◽  
Activity Dependent

Motor coordination is supported by an array of highly organized heterogeneous modules in the cerebellum. How incoming sensorimotor information is channeled and communicated between these anatomical modules is still poorly understood. In this study, we used transgenic mice expressing GFP in specific subsets of Purkinje cells that allowed us to target a given set of cerebellar modules. Combining in vitro recordings and photostimulation, we identified stereotyped patterns of functional synaptic organization between the granule cell layer and its main targets, the Purkinje cells, Golgi cells and molecular layer interneurons. Each type of connection displayed position-specific patterns of granule cell synaptic inputs that do not strictly match with anatomical boundaries but connect distant cortical modules. Although these patterns can be adjusted by activity-dependent processes, they were found to be consistent and predictable between animals. Our results highlight the operational rules underlying communication between modules in the cerebellar cortex.

scholarly journals Cerebellar and vestibular nuclear synapses in the inferior olive have distinct release kinetics and neurotransmitters

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Turecek ◽  
Wade G Regehr
Keyword(s):  
Purkinje Cells ◽  
Inferior Olive ◽  
Release Kinetics ◽  
Vestibular Nuclei ◽  
Cerebellar Nuclei ◽  
Climbing Fiber ◽  
Inhibitory Input ◽  
Deep Cerebellar Nuclei

The inferior olive (IO) is composed of electrically-coupled neurons that make climbing fiber synapses onto Purkinje cells. Neurons in different IO subnuclei are inhibited by synapses with wide ranging release kinetics. Inhibition can be exclusively synchronous, asynchronous, or a mixture of both. Whether the same boutons, neurons or sources provide these kinetically distinct types of inhibition was not known. We find that in mice the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) and vestibular nuclei (VN) are two major sources of inhibition to the IO that are specialized to provide inhibitory input with distinct kinetics. DCN to IO synapses lack fast synaptotagmin isoforms, release neurotransmitter asynchronously, and are exclusively GABAergic. VN to IO synapses contain fast synaptotagmin isoforms, release neurotransmitter synchronously, and are mediated by combined GABAergic and glycinergic transmission. These findings indicate that VN and DCN inhibitory inputs to the IO are suited to control different aspects of IO activity.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document