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The Journal of Neuroscience, June 18, 2008, 28(25):6354-6359; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5709-07.2008

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Tactile Stimulation Evokes Long-Term Synaptic Plasticity in the Granular Layer of Cerebellum

Leda Roggeri, Bruno Rivieccio, Paola Rossi, and Egidio D'Angelo

Department of Cellular/Molecular Physiological and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Pavia and Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze Fisiche della Materia, I-27100 Pavia, Italy

Correspondence should be addressed to Egidio D'Angelo, Physiological and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Pavia, Via Forlanini 6, Pavia, I-27100, Italy. Email: dangelo{at}unipv.it

Several forms of long-term synaptic plasticity [long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD)] have been reported in the cerebellar circuit in vitro, but their determination in vivo was still lacking in most cases. Here we show that, in the urethane-anesthetized rat, appropriate patterns of facial tactile stimulation as well as intracerebellar electrical stimulation can induce LTP and LTD in local field potentials recorded from the granular layer of Crus-IIa. LTD prevailed in control conditions, whereas LTP prevailed during local application of gabazine. No relevant plasticity was observed when gabazine and APV were coapplied. The pharmacological and kinetic properties of LTP and LTD in vivo were compatible with those reported in the granule cell layer in vitro (Mapelli and D'Angelo, 2007), suggesting that NMDA receptor-dependent plasticity was generated at the mossy fiber–granule cell synapse under the inhibitory control of the Golgi cell circuit. Interestingly, LTP and LTD were able to regulate the response latency to tactile stimulation, as expected from computational modeling of the expression mechanisms (Nieus et al., 2006). This result suggests that LTP and LTD could regulate the spatiotemporal pattern of granular layer responses to mossy fiber inputs.

Key words: LTP; LTD; cerebellum; granular layer; in vivo; tactile stimulation

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Received Dec. 24, 2007; revised April 15, 2008; accepted May 12, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to Egidio D'Angelo, Physiological and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Pavia, Via Forlanini 6, Pavia, I-27100, Italy. Email: dangelo{at}unipv.it

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