A subcortical circuit linking the cerebellum to the basal ganglia engaged in vocal learning
- Paris Descartes University, Institute for Neuroscience and Cognition, France
Abstract
Speech is a complex sensorimotor skill, and vocal learning involves both the basal ganglia and the cerebellum. These subcortical structures interact indirectly through their respective loops with thalamo-cortical and brainstem networks, and directly via subcortical pathways, but the role of their interaction during sensorimotor learning remains undetermined. While songbirds and their song-dedicated basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuitry offer an unique opportunity to study subcortical circuits involved in vocal learning, the cerebellar contribution to avian song learning remains unknown. We demonstrate that the cerebellum provides a strong input to the song-related basal ganglia nucleus in zebra finches. Cerebellar signals are transmitted to the basal ganglia via a disynaptic connection through the thalamus and then conveyed to their cortical target and to the premotor nucleus controlling song production. Finally, cerebellar lesions impair juvenile song learning, opening new opportunities to investigate how subcortical interactions between the cerebellum and basal ganglia contribute to sensorimotor learning.
Data availability
All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.
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Author details
Funding
Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Arthur Leblois
City of Paris, Emergence Program
- Arthur Leblois
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: Animal care and experiments were carried out in accordance with the European directives (2010-63-UE) and the French guidelines (project 02260.01, Ministère de l'Agriculture et de la Forêt). Experiments were approved by Paris Descartes University ethics committee (Permit Number: 13-092).
Copyright
© 2018, Pidoux et al.
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.
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A subcortical circuit linking the cerebellum to the basal ganglia engaged in vocal learning
eLife 7:e32167.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.32167
