Cerebellar Circuitry and Plasticity in an Electric Fish

描述（由申请人提供）：小脑的神经元回路似乎相对简单且定义明确，但该回路执行的计算尚不清楚。此外，小脑中的突触可塑性形式已经被定义为可能负责运动学习，但关于这种可塑性的关键问题仍然没有答案。这项研究的目的是通过对长鳍电鱼独特的小脑的研究来解决小脑电路和可塑性的基本问题。在这方面，有两个特点使其非常适合研究：1）浦肯野细胞和小脑输出细胞（哺乳动物小脑核的细胞）在鱼中彼此相邻，这使得在哺乳动物中无法进行的这两种细胞类型之间重要突触的整合和可塑性实验成为可能。2)攀缘纤维和平行纤维输入的浦肯野细胞的终止区域是不同的，以及分离的，但不是在哺乳动物的？这种分离有助于确定两个树突区域之间的内在差异，以及确定两个输入如何相互作用以产生突触可塑性。该项目有两个具体目标：1）确定基本的突触和内在生理学的浦肯野和小脑输出细胞在mormyrid电鱼;和2）确定可塑性的类型在平行纤维和浦肯野细胞突触在mormyrid电鱼。主要的方法将是全细胞膜片记录体外切片，结合标记记录的元素进行形态学鉴定。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The neuronal circuitry of the cerebellum appears to be relatively simple and well defined, but the computation performed by this circuitry is not understood. In addition, forms of synaptic plasticity have been defined in the cerebellum that may be responsible for motor learning, but critical questions regarding this plasticity are still unanswered. The objective of the proposed research is to address fundamental issues cerebella circuitry and plasticity through a study of the unique cerebellum of mormyrid electric fish. Two features of the mormyrid cerebellum make it well suited to address these issues: 1) Purkinje cells and cerebellar output cells (cells of the cerebellar nuclei in mammals) are adjacent to each other in mormyrid fish, making possible experiments on integration and plasticity at the important synapse between these two cell types that can not be done in mammals. 2) The regions of termination for climbing fiber and parallel fiber inputs on Purkinje cells are distinct and well separated in the mormyrid but not in the mammal. This separation facilitates the determination of intrinsic differences between the two dendritic regions and the determination of how the two inputs interact to generate synaptic plasticity. The project has two Specific Aims: 1) to determine the basic synaptic and intrinsic physiology of Purkinje and cerebellar output cells in mormyrid electric fish; and 2) to determine the types of plasticity at parallel fiber and Purkinje cell synapses in mormyrid electric fish. The primary method will be whole-cell patch recording in vitro slices, combined with labeling of recorded elements for morphological identification.