Contribution of Cerebellar Sensorimotor Adaptation to Hippocampal Spatial Memory

Complementing its primary role in motor control, cerebellar learning has also a bottom-up influence on cognitive functions, where high-level representations build up from elementary sensorimotor memories. In this paper we examine the cerebellar contribution to both procedural and declarative components of spatial cognition. To do so, we model a functional interplay between the cerebellum and the hippocampal formation during goal-oriented navigation. We reinterpret and complete existing genetic behavioural observations by means of quantitative accounts that cross-link synaptic plasticity mechanisms, single cell and population coding properties, and behavioural responses. In contrast to earlier hypotheses positing only a purely procedural impact of cerebellar adaptation deficits, our results suggest a cerebellar involvement in high-level aspects of behaviour. In particular, we propose that cerebellar learning mechanisms may influence hippocampal place fields, by contributing to the path integration process. Our simulations predict differences in place-cell discharge properties between normal mice and L7-PKCI mutant mice lacking long-term depression at cerebellar parallel fibre-Purkinje cell synapses. On the behavioural level, these results suggest that, by influencing the accuracy of hippocampal spatial codes, cerebellar deficits may impact the exploration-exploitation balance during spatial navigation

Activation of 5-HT1A receptors attenuates tachycardia induced by restraint stress in rats

To better understand the central mechanisms that mediate increases in heart rate (HR) during psychological stress, we examined the effects of systemic and intramedullary (raphe region) administration of the serotonin-1A (5-HT1A) receptor agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetraline (8-OH-DPAT) on cardiac changes elicited by restraint in hooded Wistar rats with preimplanted ECG telemetric transmitters. 8-OH-DPAT reduced basal HR from 356 ± 12 to 284 ± 12 beats/min, predominantly via a nonadrenergic, noncholinergic mechanism. Restraint stress caused tachycardia (an initial transient increase from 318 ± 3 to 492 ± 21 beats/min with a sustained component of 379 ± 12 beats/min). β-Adrenoreceptor blockade with atenolol suppressed the sustained component, whereas muscarinic blockade with methylscopolamine (50 µg/kg) abolished the initial transient increase, indicating that sympathetic activation and vagal withdrawal were responsible for the tachycardia. Systemic administration of 8-OH-DPAT (10, 30, and 100 µg/kg) attenuated stress-induced tachycardia in a dose-dependent manner, and this effect was suppressed by the 5-HT1A antagonist WAY-100635 (100 µg/kg). Given alone, the antagonist had no effect. Systemically injected 8-OH-DPAT (100 µg/kg) attenuated the sympathetically mediated sustained component (from +85 ± 19 to +32 ± 9 beats/min) and the vagally mediated transient (from +62 ± 5 to +25 ± 3 beats/min). Activation of 5-HT1A receptors in the medullary raphe by microinjection of 8-OH-DPAT mimicked the antitachycardic effect of the systemically administered drug but did not affect basal HR. We conclude that tachycardia induced by restraint stress is due to a sustained increase in cardiac sympathetic activity associated with a transient vagal withdrawal. Activation of central 5-HT1A receptors attenuates this tachycardia by suppressing autonomic effects. At least some of the relevant receptors are located in the medullary raphe-parapyramidal area.Sukonthar Ngampramuan, Mathias Baumert, Mirza Irfan Beig, Naiphinich Kotchabhakdi, and Eugene Nalivaik