The cerebellum linearly encodes whisker position during voluntary movement
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Chen, S
Augustine, GJ
Chadderton, PT
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Active whisking is an important model sensorimotor behavior, but the function of the
cerebellum in the rodent whisker system is unknown. We have made patch clamp recordings from
Purkinje cells in vivo to identify whether cerebellar output encodes kinematic features of whisking
including the phase and set point. We show that Purkinje cell spiking activity changes strongly
during whisking bouts. On average, the changes in simple spike rate coincide with or slightly
precede movement, indicating that the synaptic drive responsible for these changes is
predominantly of efferent (motor) rather than re-afferent (sensory) origin. Remarkably, on-going
changes in simple spike rate provide an accurate linear read-out of whisker set point. Thus, despite
receiving several hundred thousand discrete synaptic inputs across a non-linear dendritic tree,
Purkinje cells integrate parallel fiber input to generate precise information about whisking
kinematics through linear changes in firing rate.
cerebellum in the rodent whisker system is unknown. We have made patch clamp recordings from
Purkinje cells in vivo to identify whether cerebellar output encodes kinematic features of whisking
including the phase and set point. We show that Purkinje cell spiking activity changes strongly
during whisking bouts. On average, the changes in simple spike rate coincide with or slightly
precede movement, indicating that the synaptic drive responsible for these changes is
predominantly of efferent (motor) rather than re-afferent (sensory) origin. Remarkably, on-going
changes in simple spike rate provide an accurate linear read-out of whisker set point. Thus, despite
receiving several hundred thousand discrete synaptic inputs across a non-linear dendritic tree,
Purkinje cells integrate parallel fiber input to generate precise information about whisking
kinematics through linear changes in firing rate.
Date Issued
2016-01-19
Date Acceptance
2015-11-27
Citation
eLife, 2016, 5
ISSN
2050-084X
Publisher
eLife Sciences Publications
Journal / Book Title
eLife
Volume
5
Copyright Statement
© 2016 Chen et al. This
article is distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use and
redistribution provided that the
original author and source are
credited.
article is distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use and
redistribution provided that the
original author and source are
credited.
License URL
Sponsor
Medical Research Council (MRC)
Grant Number
G1000512
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e10509