The function of cerebellar nucleus and cortex in eyeblink conditioning

• Project/Area Number: 21700439
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Neurophysiology and muscle physiology
• Research Institution: 財団法人大阪バイオサイエンス研究所 (2010); Osaka Bioscience Institute (2009)
• Principal Investigator: YAWATA Satoshi 財団法人大阪バイオサイエンス研究所, システムズ生物学部門, 研究員 (90455246)
• Project Period (FY): 2009 – 2010
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2010)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,420,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,020,000); Fiscal Year 2010: ¥2,080,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥480,000); Fiscal Year 2009: ¥2,340,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥540,000)
• Keywords: ニューロン / シナプス / 神経回路

Research Abstract

Conditioned eyeblink is typical cerebellum-dependent motor learning. The cerebellar cortex and the interpositus nucleus (IN) receive both conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (US) information through the mossy fiber and climbing fiber projections, respectively. However, the underlying mechanism of associative eyeblink learning remains unclear.
To analyze neural plasticity in the IN involved in acquisition of conditioned response (CR), I recorded neural activity during eyeblink conditioning in vivo. Some neurons in the IN of mice which have not trained eyeblink conditioning showed increased activities respond only to US. On the other hand, IN neurons of trained mice showed increased activities respond to both US and CS.
To analyze the detail temporal information of CR, we observed the eyelid movement using high-speed video camera. Mice which have trained eyeblink conditioning showed larger eyelid closure respond to CS. Lesion of cerebellar cortex made CR to small and short latency response.

Research Products

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