Multiple climbing fiber innervation of Purkinje cells in the adult cerebellum

脑回路的结构在理解其功能方面起着至关重要的作用。的发现

The architecture of brain circuits plays an essential role in understanding their function. The discovery of principal concepts in physiology and neurocomputation critically depends on the availability of precise morphological knowledge. A prominent example supporting this notion is the cerebellum, a brain circuit that is involved in motor (and non-motor) control and adaptation. At the center of cerebellar circuits are Purkinje cells, projection neurons that receive thousands of excitatory synapses, which convey sensory information needed for proper motor control. A hallmark feature of these unique neurons is that they have a massive dendrite that is innervated, in the adult brain, by one climbing fiber input. The climbing fiber plays a crucial role in theories of cerebellar supervised learning, and within this conceptual framework provides an instructive signal (here an error signal) guiding plasticity at parallel fiber synapses. More recent studies have, in addition, pointed out roles in reward signaling and noted that climbing fiber-evoked complex spikes occur in response to a variety of sensory stimuli and may also carry motor command signals. These activity-dependent complex spikes are observed in addition to spontaneous complex spikes that occur at an average frequency of about 1Hz. Thus, while we do not know what the exact functions of climbing fiber signaling are, it is obvious that this unusual input provides a core element of cerebellar cortical circuits and to some degree will define its operations. Our discovery – presented here as pilot data – that a subgroup of the entire adult Purkinje cell population (~15%) has two climbing fiber inputs instead of just one, that two inputs are almost exclusively observed in Purkinje cells with two primary dendrites (either separately exiting from the soma, or separating in close proximity to it) and that within this subgroup 20-25% of Purkinje cells show two climbing fiber inputs, leads to the question whether there is a functional significance of this double innervation. Is persistent double climbing fiber innervation of adult Purkinje cells a bug or a feature? In this exploratory study, we plan to examine the basic phenomenon further and to assess whether two separate climbing fiber inputs may signal independently. If the answer to our ‘bug or feature’ question is ‘feature’, we will examine consequences for cerebellar function (e.g. behavioral learning tests) in subsequent studies that we will seek separate funding for. The first aim uses patch-clamp recordings from mice in combination with confocal microscopy in vitro to test the hypothesis that the persistence of multiple climbing fibers is not random, but occurs in Purkinje cells with two primary dendrites. We will also inject tracer dyes into the inferior olive to stain climbing fibers and anatomically confirm the existence of two climbing fiber inputs. The second aim will add calcium imaging in vitro to examine whether a double climbing fiber input leads to functionally separate, dendritic calcium signaling domains. The third aim uses GCaMP6f-based two-photon imaging from Purkinje cells in awake mice to assess whether under spontaneous conditions, or with sensory stimulation, two climbing fiber inputs may operate independently.