Cellular-resolution mapping uncovers spatial adaptive filtering at the rat cerebellum input stage

Commun Biol. 2020 Oct 30;3(1):635. doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-01360-y.

Abstract

Long-term synaptic plasticity is thought to provide the substrate for adaptive computation in brain circuits but very little is known about its spatiotemporal organization. Here, we combined multi-spot two-photon laser microscopy in rat cerebellar slices with realistic modeling to map the distribution of plasticity in multi-neuronal units of the cerebellar granular layer. The units, composed by ~300 neurons activated by ~50 mossy fiber glomeruli, showed long-term potentiation concentrated in the core and long-term depression in the periphery. This plasticity was effectively accounted for by an NMDA receptor and calcium-dependent induction rule and was regulated by the inhibitory Golgi cell loops. Long-term synaptic plasticity created effective spatial filters tuning the time-delay and gain of spike retransmission at the cerebellum input stage and provided a plausible basis for the spatiotemporal recoding of input spike patterns anticipated by the motor learning theory.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Video-Audio Media

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Calcium / metabolism
  • Cerebellum / cytology*
  • Cerebellum / diagnostic imaging
  • Cerebellum / physiology*
  • Female
  • Long-Term Potentiation / physiology*
  • Male
  • Microscopy, Confocal / instrumentation
  • Microscopy, Confocal / methods
  • Models, Neurological
  • Neuronal Plasticity / physiology*
  • Neurons / physiology
  • Rats, Wistar
  • Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / metabolism
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Synaptic Transmission / physiology

Substances

  • Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate
  • Calcium