Ventromedial Thalamus-Projecting DCN Neurons Modulate Associative Sensorimotor Responses in Mice.

ABSTRACT: 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 (DCN^Vm 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 DCN^Vm neurons signaled the performance of conditioned eyeblink responses (CRs). Optogenetic activation and inhibition of the DCN^Vm neu

SUBMITTER: Zhang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9106783 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature