Neuronal computations and population dynamics in the Cerebellar Nuclei during motor behaviours

Introduction

Motor control involves many brain structures, handling different behavioral aspects such as planning, learning, and execution of movements. In vertebrates, while downstream structures such as motor nuclei in the brainstem seem to encode simple stereotyped movements, other structures such as the motor cortex seem to encode higher level aspects of motricity, such as goal-oriented complex movements.

The Role of the Cerebellum

The cerebellum, a key structure for movement coordination and motor learning, is extensively connected to higher structures such as the neocortex, but also to brainstem nuclei controlling simple movements. How the cerebellum influences downstream structures depends on the computations occurring in its output layer, the Cerebellar Nuclei (CN), which integrates information from the cerebellar cortex and from extracerebellar inputs.

Research Challenges

However, these integration mechanisms and population coding in the CN are not well understood because technological and experimental difficulties have limited the study of CN processing rules both at the cellular and at the population level.

Research Objectives

CereCode will address unanswered fundamental questions that undermine our understanding of cerebellar-dependent motor control:

1. What is the functional connectivity in the CN network and how are sensorimotor inputs from different parts of the brain integrated?
2. How are CN sensorimotor computations represented at the population level? Are there functional modules controlling stereotyped movements or are different tasks encoded within the same population?
3. What is the individual role of the different extracerebellar inputs during behavior?

Methodology

CereCode will address these issues by combining recent discoveries in CN neurophysiology, viral strategies, optogenetics, and new imaging tools that I developed based on 3D-two-photon acousto-optic-lens imaging and GRIN lenses, shining light on the neural code of an essential brain structure.