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Purkinje cell loss affects differentially the execution, acquisition and prepulse inhibition of skeletal and facial motor responses in Lurcher mice.
- Source :
-
The European journal of neuroscience [Eur J Neurosci] 2005 Feb; Vol. 21 (4), pp. 979-88. - Publication Year :
- 2005
-
Abstract
- Adult heterozygous Lurcher mice show a degeneration of almost all Purkinje cells and 90% of the granular cells of the cerebellum, resulting in ataxia or general deficits in motor coordination. These mice are therefore an excellent model for studying the role of the cerebellar cortex in motor performance, including the acquisition of new motor abilities. The performance of 3-month-old Lurcher mice was studied in various behavioural (fall, horizontal bar, rotating cylinder, and ladder), spatial orientation (water maze) and associative learning (eyelid classical conditioning) tasks and compared with that of wild-type mice. Behavioural tasks indicated a deficit for motor abilities in Lurcher mice but with some adaptation to the tests and improvement in performance. Wild-type and Lurcher mice performed swimming equally, but the latter learned the task significantly more slowly than the former. The late component of reflex blinks was smaller in amplitude and had a longer latency in Lurcher mice than in controls. Learning curves for Lurcher mice during classical conditioning of eyelid responses were similar to controls, but the amplitude of the learned response in Lurcher mice was significantly lower. The startle response to a severe tone was similar in both control and Lurcher mice but the latter were unable to produce prepulse inhibition. These results suggest that the cerebellar cortex is not indispensable for the performance of this complete set of skeletal and facial tasks, or for the acquisition of new motor abilities, but it is for the appropriate execution and adjustment of any of these motor activities.
- Subjects :
- Acoustic Stimulation methods
Animals
Behavior, Animal physiology
Cerebellar Cortex pathology
Cerebellar Diseases genetics
Cerebellar Diseases physiopathology
Disease Models, Animal
Electromyography methods
Evoked Potentials physiology
Evoked Potentials radiation effects
Male
Maze Learning physiology
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Mutant Strains physiology
Motor Activity physiology
Muscle, Skeletal radiation effects
Nerve Degeneration genetics
Nerve Degeneration physiopathology
Reaction Time physiology
Spatial Behavior physiology
Conditioning, Classical physiology
Muscle, Skeletal physiopathology
Neural Inhibition physiology
Psychomotor Performance physiology
Purkinje Cells physiology
Reflex, Acoustic physiology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0953-816X
- Volume :
- 21
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The European journal of neuroscience
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 15787704
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-9568.2005.03940.x