bims-climfi 2020-10-04 papers

Issue of 2020‒10‒04
two papers selected by
Jun Maruta
Mount Sinai Health System

Elife. 2020 Sep 28. pii: e61593. [Epub ahead of print]9

Direct translation of climbing fiber burst-mediated sensory coding into post-synaptic Purkinje cell dendritic calcium.

Roh SE, Kim SH, Ryu C, Kim CE, Kim YG, Worley PF, Kim SK, Kim SJ.

Climbing fibers (CFs) generate complex spikes (CS) and Ca2+ transients in cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs), serving as instructive signals. The so-called 'all-or-none' character of CSs has been questioned since the CF burst was described. Although recent studies have indicated a sensory-driven enhancement of PC Ca2+ signals, how CF responds to sensory events and contributes to PC dendritic Ca2+ and CS remains unexplored. Here, single or simultaneous Ca2+ imaging of CFs and PCs in awake mice revealed the presynaptic CF Ca2+ amplitude encoded the sensory input's strength and directly influenced post-synaptic PC dendritic Ca2+ amplitude. The sensory-driven variability in CF Ca2+ amplitude depended on the number of spikes in the CF burst. Finally, the spike number of the CF burst determined the PC Ca2+ influx and CS properties. These results reveal the direct translation of sensory information-coding CF inputs into PC Ca2+, suggesting the sophisticated role of CFs as error signals.

Keywords: mouse; neuroscience

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.61593

Elife. 2020 Sep 29. pii: e57344. [Epub ahead of print]9

Feed-forward recruitment of electrical synapses enhances synchronous spiking in the mouse cerebellar cortex.

Hoehne A, McFadden MH, DiGregorio DA.

In the cerebellar cortex, molecular layer interneurons use chemical and electrical synapses to form subnetworks that fine-tune the spiking output of the cerebellum. Although electrical synapses can entrain activity within neuronal assemblies, their role in feed-forward circuits is less well explored. By combining whole-cell patch-clamp and 2-photon laser scanning microscopy of basket cells (BCs), we found that classical excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) are followed by GABAA receptor-independent outward currents, reflecting the hyperpolarization component of spikelets (a synapse-evoked action potential passively propagating from electrically coupled neighbors). FF recruitment of the spikelet-mediated inhibition curtails the integration time window of concomitant excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) and dampens their temporal integration. In contrast with GABAergic-mediated feed-forward inhibition, the depolarizing component of spikelets transiently increases the peak amplitude of EPSPs, and thus postsynaptic spiking probability. Therefore, spikelet transmission can propagate within the BC network to generate synchronous inhibition of Purkinje cells, which can entrain cerebellar output for driving temporally precise behaviors.

Keywords: cerebellum; electrical synapses; feed-forward circuit; interneurons; mouse; neuroscience; synchrony

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.57344