Multimodal sensory integration in single cerebellar granule cells in vivo

Abstract
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Abstract

The mammalian cerebellum is a highly multimodal structure, receiving inputs from multiple sensory modalities and integrating them during complex sensorimotor coordination tasks. Previously, using cell-type-specific anatomical projection mapping, it was shown that multimodal pathways converge onto individual cerebellar granule cells (Huang et al., 2013). Here we directly measure synaptic currents using in vivo patch-clamp recordings and confirm that a subset of single granule cells receive convergent functional multimodal (somatosensory, auditory, and visual) inputs via separate mossy fibers. Furthermore, we show that the integration of multimodal signals by granule cells can enhance action potential output. These recordings directly demonstrate functional convergence of multimodal signals onto single granule cells.

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Taro Ishikawa

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

Competing interests
No competing interests declared.
Misa Shimuta

Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, 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, 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 and under approval and supervision of the Animal Experiment Committee of Jikei University. 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.

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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.