Observing a new time-keeping role for the brain’s cerebellum

2024

Challenge

The cerebellum, a small structure that sits at the back of the brain just above the brainstem, contains the majority of the human brain’s neurons and has traditionally been associated with learning motor skills such as playing the piano. Recent studies suggest that the cerebellum may be involved in more complicated cognitive processes as well, but how the cerebellum specifically contributes to them has remained unclear. That gap in scientific knowledge exists partly due to the difficulty of simultaneously recording the electrical firing of different types of neurons in the cerebellum during the learning of complex skills.

Advance

Martha Garcia Garcia, Ph.D, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of IRP Stadtman Investigator Mark J. Wagner, Ph.D., cleared this challenge by developing the first simultaneous recordings from the two major sources of electrical signals the cerebellum receives: granule cells and climbing fibers. By imaging the brains of mice learning to predict the timing of a reward following an action, Dr. Wagner’s team discovered that numerous granule cells ramped their activity up and down as the animal waited for the reward, and then large groups of climbing fibers fired when the animal received the reward. Together, the activity patterns of these brain cells helped the animal learn to keep track of the time until the expected rewarding outcome, defining a new role of the cerebellum in cognitive processes.

Impact

Knowledge of how the cerebellum processes information may eventually help improve treatment for cognitive problems linked to the cerebellum, such as those seen in autism spectrum disorders. Moreover, further development of techniques to monitor the firing of groups of neurons in the cerebellum during skill learning may enhance scientists’ ability to learn about the cerebellum’s role in neurological conditions.

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