Cerebellar and cerebro-cerebellar networks across the millisecond and circadian timescales

跨毫秒和昼夜节律时间尺度的小脑和脑小脑网络

• 批准号: RGPIN-2021-04020
• 负责人: Courtemanche, Richard
• 金额: $ 2.4万
• 依托单位: Concordia University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=744026
• 关键词: Cerebellar; cerebro; cerebellar; networks; across

This research program aims at understanding how brain circuits functionally coordinate together to optimize movement, at the millisecond level as well as throughout the day. Brain areas involved in movement, such as the cerebellum, basal ganglia, and the cerebral cortex, interact on a fraction-of-a-second basis, prior to movement, interact to improve the exchange of information, and fine-tune the chosen motor responses. Many results point to a role of oscillatory activity in this communication process. Having shown that these neurophysiological oscillations are affected by circadian rhythms, it is of high interest to see how they relate to functional tasks, and how perturbing these oscillations can affect performance. With the cerebellum as starting point, we will study how the interaction between these brain areas change on those two timescales. The first line of research will focus on how these brain areas interact in a timed licking task to a sound or somatosensory cue. Licking is a well described natural rhythmic behaviour in rodents. We have designed a "lickometer" that can precisely measure the licking behaviour and serve to describe how these brain circuits interact prior to movement onset. Results from this line of research will provide how local circuits in the cerebellum, as well as long-range connections, interact to support interval timing. The second line of research will touch on the circadian rhythmicity of these communication mechanisms, focusing on how these brain systems likely interact. We will measure how the cerebellum, striatum, and cortex interact in the timed licking task, at different periods of the 24-hr day. The relation with the circadian patterns of the molecular clocks will be established as well. We will study how this affects the differences in wave activity, in the coherence between signals, or even how the units are influenced by the local oscillations. The third line of research touches on perturbing these communication mechanisms, via cerebellar electrical stimulation. With theta/gamma rhythmic stimulation, we will attempt to modulate inter-area communication and affect timed licking performance. This will add a more causal angle to the interpretation of oscillations modulating local circuits and more distant interactions. Multiple lines of inquiry can be added to these shorter term aims, all to better understand basic principles of inter-structure neural communication. By combining the behavioural and daily approaches, it addresses the modes of communication on the moment-to-moment and circadian scales. This new perspective will serve to develop new hypotheses on neural communication by populations of neurons across different structures.

这项研究计划旨在了解大脑回路如何在功能上协调在一起，以优化运动，在毫秒级以及在一整天。参与运动的大脑区域，如小脑、基底神经节和大脑皮层，在运动之前以几分之一秒的速度相互作用，相互作用以改善信息交换，并微调所选择的运动反应。许多结果指出振荡活动在这个通信过程中的作用。已经表明这些神经生理振荡受到昼夜节律的影响，看看它们如何与功能任务相关，以及干扰这些振荡如何影响性能，这是非常有趣的。以小脑为起点，我们将研究这些大脑区域之间的相互作用如何在这两个时间尺度上变化。 研究的第一条线将集中在这些大脑区域如何在定时舔任务中与声音或体感提示相互作用。舔食是啮齿动物中一种被充分描述的自然节律行为。我们设计了一个“舔计”，可以精确地测量舔行为，并用于描述这些大脑回路在运动开始之前如何相互作用。这一系列研究的结果将提供小脑中的局部回路以及远程连接如何相互作用以支持间隔计时。 第二条研究路线将涉及这些通信机制的昼夜节律，重点是这些大脑系统如何相互作用。我们将测量小脑，纹状体和皮质如何在定时舔任务中相互作用，在24小时的不同时期。与分子钟的昼夜节律模式的关系也将建立。我们将研究这如何影响波活动的差异，信号之间的相干性，甚至是如何影响本地振荡的单位。第三条研究路线涉及通过小脑电刺激扰乱这些通信机制。通过theta/gamma节律刺激，我们将尝试调节区域间通信并影响定时舔性能。这将增加一个更因果的角度来解释振荡调制本地电路和更远的相互作用。 多条调查线可以添加到这些短期目标中，所有这些都是为了更好地理解结构间神经通信的基本原理。通过结合行为和日常方法，它解决了即时和昼夜尺度上的通信模式。这一新的视角将有助于发展关于不同结构的神经元群体的神经通信的新假设。