Affiliations: Clinica Neurologica, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze,
Università Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy | Centro Europeo per la Ricerca sul Cervello
(CERC)/Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy | Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università La
Sapienza, Rome, Italy | Università Parthenope, Naples, Italy
Note: [] Corresponding author: Diego Centonze, Clinica Neurologica,
Department of Neuroscience, Università Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1,
00133 Rome, Italy. Tel. +39 06 7259 6010; Fax: +39 06 7259 6006; E-mail:
centonze@uniroma2.it
Abstract: Purpose: Recent anatomical studies showed the presence of cerebellar
and basal ganglia connections. It is thus conceivable that the cerebellum may
influence the striatal synaptic transmission in general, and synaptic
plasticity in particular. Methods: In the present neurophysiological investigation in
brain slices, we studied striatal long-term depression (LTD), a crucial form of
synaptic plasticity involved in motor learning after cerebellar lesions in
rats. Results: Striatal LTD was fully abolished in the left
striatum of rats with right hemicerebellectomy recorded 3 and 7 days following
surgery, when the motor deficits were at their peak. Fifteen days after the
hemicerebellectomy, rats had partially compensated their motor deficits and
high-frequency stimulation of excitatory synapses in the left striatum was able
to induce a stable LTD. Striatal plasticity was conversely normal ipsilaterally
to cerebellar lesions, as well as in the right and left striatum of
sham-operated animals. Conclusions: These data show that the cerebellum controls
striatal synaptic plasticity, supporting the notion that the two structures
operate in conjunction during motor learning.
Keywords: EPSP, long-term depression, motor recovery, rat, synaptic plasticity
