Corollary discharge (CD), or a copy of efferent motor commands, is integral to numerous models cerebellar motor control. CD is hypothesized to provide a reference signal to update internal models of current motor state and modify reafferent sensory input that is predicted by the motor command, placing it at the center of sensorimotor integration. Our understanding of the specific anatomical and physiological circuitry of CD in the mammalian cerebellum is limited, however, owing to anatomical constraints that complicate studying motor cortex-derived CD signals. Our approach bypasses these obstacles by focusing on a neglected pathway consisting of collaterals from the premotor cerebellar nuclei to the cerebellar granule cell layer. This experimentally accessible nucleocortical pathway has all of the hallmarks of a CD pathway in that it consists of motor output neurons that also project to sensory receptive areas. We propose to investigate the organization and function of this pathway in mice as a means to understand the mechanisms and role of corollary discharge in sensory processing in mammalian cerebellum. To test the hypothesis that CD both updates internal models and suppresses sensory reafference, we will use anatomical and physiological approaches to examine whether the nucleocortical pathway forms excitatory synapses onto feedforward excitatory granule neurons and feedforward inhibitory Golgi neurons. This arrangement would provide a mechanism for the proposed roles of CD in motor control. To further test the prediction that CD can modify sensory reafference, we will examine whether sensory responses in the granule cell layer are sensitive to concurrent activation or inactivation of the nucleocortical pathway. We expect that the motor CD pathway from the cerebellar nuclei contacts granule cells and Golgi cells, converges with other sensory cerebellar afferents, and modifies sensory processing by the granule cell layer. These studies will aid in our long term goal of understanding the circuit mechanisms of feedforward motor control in mammals, which is critical for precise movement and hypothesized to be impaired in movement disorders that involve the cerebellum.

Public Health Relevance

Cerebellar ataxias are debilitating neurological disorders. The next generation of therapies for neurological disorders will likely include manipulations of specific parts of neural circuits, making it essential to understand how specific neural pathways contribute to precise motor behavior and function. The proposed studies will provide insight into how cerebellar circuits integrate sensorimotor information, helping to explain why cerebellar disease results in motor control deficits, and potentially offer therapeutic loci for medical intervention in patients with cerebellar dysfunction.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
4R01NS084996-04
Application #
9130293
Study Section
Sensorimotor Integration Study Section (SMI)
Program Officer
Chen, Daofen
Project Start
2013-09-01
Project End
2018-08-31
Budget Start
2016-09-01
Budget End
2017-08-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Colorado Denver
Department
Physiology
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
041096314
City
Aurora
State
CO
Country
United States
Zip Code
80045
Gilmer, Jesse I; Person, Abigail L (2017) Morphological Constraints on Cerebellar Granule Cell Combinatorial Diversity. J Neurosci 37:12153-12166
Beitzel, Christy S; Houck, Brenda D; Lewis, Samantha M et al. (2017) Rubrocerebellar Feedback Loop Isolates the Interposed Nucleus as an Independent Processor of Corollary Discharge Information in Mice. J Neurosci 37:10085-10096
Houck, Brenda D; Person, Abigail L (2015) Cerebellar Premotor Output Neurons Collateralize to Innervate the Cerebellar Cortex. J Comp Neurol 523:2254-71
Houck, Brenda D; Person, Abigail L (2014) Cerebellar loops: a review of the nucleocortical pathway. Cerebellum 13:378-85