Synaptic representation of locomotion in single cerebellar granule cells

Abstract
Article and author information
Metrics

Abstract

The cerebellum plays a crucial role in the regulation of locomotion, but how movement is represented at the synaptic level is not known. Here, we use in vivo patch-clamp recordings to show that locomotion can be directly read out from mossy fiber synaptic input and spike output in single granule cells. The increase in granule cell spiking during locomotion is enhanced by glutamate spillover currents recruited during movement. Surprisingly, the entire step sequence can be predicted from input EPSCs and output spikes of a single granule cell, suggesting that a robust gait code is present already at the cerebellar input layer and transmitted via the granule cell pathway to downstream Purkinje cells. Thus, synaptic input delivers remarkably rich information to single neurons during locomotion.

Article and author information

Author details

Kate Powell

Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research and Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
Alexandre Mathy

Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research and Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
Ian Duguid

Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research and Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
Michael Häusser

Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research and Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, United Kingdom

For correspondence
m.hausser@ucl.ac.uk

Competing interests
Michael Häusser, Reviewing editor, eLife.

Ethics

Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with UK Home Office regulations. Experiments were carried out under Project Licence 70/7833 issued by the Home Office, which was issued following local ethical review, and under the relevant Personal Licences issued by the Home Office. All surgery was performed under isoflurane anesthesia, and every effort was made to minimize suffering.

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.