Occurrence of long-term depression in the cerebellar flocculus during adaptation of optokinetic response.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29582755.
- Also identified by DOI 10.7554/eLife.36209 and PMC identifier 5871328.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Long-term depression (LTD) at parallel fiber (PF) to Purkinje cell (PC) synapses has been considered as a main cellular mechanism for motor learning. However, the necessity of LTD for motor learning was challenged by demonstration of normal motor learning in the LTD-defective animals. Here, we addressed possible involvement of LTD in motor learning by examining whether LTD occurs during motor learning in the wild-type mice. As a model of motor learning, adaptation of optokinetic response (OKR) was used. OKR is a type of reflex eye movement to suppress blur of visual image during animal motion. OKR shows adaptive change during continuous optokinetic stimulation, which is regulated by the cerebellar flocculus. After OKR adaptation, amplitudes of quantal excitatory postsynaptic currents at PF-PC synapses were decreased, and induction of LTD was suppressed in the flocculus. These results suggest that LTD occurs at PF-PC synapses during OKR adaptation.
Medical subject headings
- Adaptation, Physiological
- Eye Movements
- Learning
- Long-Term Synaptic Depression
- Psychomotor Performance