Cerebellar Circuit Mechanisms Which Accompany Coordinated Limb TrajectoryPatterns in the Rat: Use of a Model of Spontaneous Changes

摘要

This project was designed to evaluate the effect of estrous hormones on functionof the olivo-cerebellar circuitry in association with improved motor performance. Towards this end rats were chronically implanted with arrays of microwires to record from the dorsal accessory olive (rDAO) and its target, Purkinje cells in the paravermal cerebellum. In many cases, simultaneous recordings were carried out from as many as 48 neurons in both areas during tredmill locomotion tasks used to evaluate concomitant sensorimotor performance. The justification for these studies comes from the findings that elevations in endogenous estrous hormones across the estrous cycle are associated with marked improvements in limb trajectory. Our fundings suggest that the ability of a rat to maintain treadmill position on a variable speed treadmill paradigm is improved on the night of behavioral estrus, following elevations in both estrous hormones, estradiol and progesterone.