We report a detailed analysis of the distribution of relevant proteins of the endogenous cannabinoid system in the rat cerebellum (cerebellar cortex and deep cerebellar nuclei) and the two functionally related nuclei, the vestibular nuclei and the inferior olive. These proteins include the two main cannabinoid receptors (CB(1) and CB(2)), the enzymes involved in cannabinoid biosynthesis (DAGL a...

Introduction: Loss of inhibitory output from Purkinje cells leads to hyperexcitability of the Deep Cerebellar Nuclei (DCN), which results in cerebellar ataxia. Also, inhibition of small-conductancecalcium-activated potassium (SK) channel increases firing rate  f DCN, which could cause cerebellar ataxia. Therefore, SK channel activators can be effective in reducing the symptoms of this disease, ...

The cerebellum receives its input from multiple precerebellar nuclei located in the brainstem and sends processed information to other brain structures via the deep cerebellar neurons. Guidance molecules that regulate the complex migrations of precerebellar neurons and the initial guidance of their leading processes have been identified. However, the molecules necessary for dorsal guidance of p...

Experimental and computational analyses of cerebellar function indicate that excitatory synapses onto deep nucleus neurons are likely to be a critical site of plasticity during motor learning. In this issue of Neuron, Pugh and Raman report that unconventional stimulus protocols can drive synaptic plasticity in the deep cerebellar nuclei.

The deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) are a key element of the cortico-cerebellar loop. Because of their small size and functional diversity, it is difficult to study them using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To overcome these difficulties, we present here three related methodological advances. First, we used susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) at a high-field strength (7T) to identify the dent...

The cerebellum is considered a brain structure in which memories for learned motor responses (e.g., conditioned eyeblink responses) are stored. Within the cerebellum, however, the relative importance of the cortex and the deep nuclei in motor learning/memory is not entirely clear. In this study, we show that the cerebellar cortex exerts both basal and stimulus-activated inhibition to the deep n...

Introduction There are various ways to study the function of the human cerebellum. One method, which has long been used, is to examine the impairments in human subjects with cerebellar lesions. In order to perform lesion-symptom mapping within the cerebellum, good knowledge about the cerebellar lesion site is required. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is helpful to determine the loca...

The present study examined the development of the axonal torpedoes of the cerebellar Purkinje cells in a Cav2.1 channel mutant, rolling mouse Nagoya. Calbindin D-28k immunostaining revealed a few torpedoes in both the cerebellar white matter and all three subdivisions of the deep cerebellar nuclei of rolling mice on postnatal day (PD) 21, while there was no difference in either number among the...

The cerebellum is normally assumed to represent ipsilateral movements. We tested this by making microelectrode penetrations into the deep cerebellar nuclei (mainly nucleus interpositus) of monkeys trained to perform a reach and grasp task with either hand. Following weak single electrical stimuli, many sites produced clear bilateral facilitation of multiple forelimb muscles. The short onset lat...