Zona incerta modulation of the inferior olive and the pontine nuclei.

ABSTRACT: The zona incerta (ZI) is a subthalamic structure that has been implicated in locomotion, fear, and anxiety. Recently interest has grown in its therapeutic efficacy in deep brain stimulation in movement disorders. This efficacy might be due to the ZI's functional projections to the other brain regions. Notwithstanding some evidence of anatomical connections between the ZI and the inferior olive (IO) and the pontine nuclei (PN), how the ZI modulates the neuronal activity in these regions remains to be determined. We first tested this by monitoring responses of single neurons in the PN and IO to optogenetic activation of channelrhodopsin-expressing ZI axons in wild-type mice, using an in vivo awake preparation. Stimulation of short, single pulses and trains of stimuli at 20 Hz elicited rapid

SUBMITTER: Bhuvanasundaram R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10927296 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature