Completed Psychology & Behaviour Brain & Nervous System

The role of cerebellar circuitry in movement control and real-time motor learning

Funder Wellcome Charity-funded
Recipient organisation University of Bristol
Funding £1.5M
Period Jul 2018 — Jul 2023

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

A mouse’s whisker twitches, and a team of scientists watches exactly which cells in its cerebellum fire in response—and which ones change as the animal learns to adjust that movement. The cerebellum is essential for coordinating smooth, precise movements and for learning new motor skills, but the cellular and circuit-level details of how it does this remain largely unknown. This project will map those mechanisms by combining advanced imaging, electrical recordings, and genetic tools to manipulate specific neurons, all while the animal performs a controlled whisker movement. The researchers will then build a computational model of how the cerebellum represents and controls that behaviour. This is fundamental science—there is no immediate clinical or engineering application. But a detailed wiring diagram of cerebellar learning could eventually inform treatments for movement disorders such as ataxia or dyspraxia, or inspire more adaptive control algorithms in robotics. For now, the goal is simply to understand how a small patch of brain tissue turns sensory feedback into better movement, millisecond by millisecond.

View original technical description
The cerebellum is known to play a critical role in ongoing sensorimotor behaviour and learning of novel associations, but these processes remain poorly understood. The aim of this proposal is therefore to provide an extensive characterisation of the cellular and circuit mechanisms involved in motor control and learning in the cerebellum. We will probe cerebellar processing in head-fixed behaving animals using whisker movement as a model sensorimotor behaviour. We will measure neuronal activity using a variety of functional imaging and electrophysiological methods, combined where appropriate with opto- and pharmaco-genetic perturbation of specific circuit elements. Throughout the data-gathering process, we will work with theoreticians to generate a comprehensive network model of whisker representation in the cerebellum. Three discrete but interconnected aims will be addressed: 1) What are the organisational principles governing control of whisker movement within the cerebellar cortex? 2) What are the functional characteristics of inputs and outputs to cerebellar cortex during active whisking? 3) What are the mechanisms of real-time motor learning in the cerebellum? Together, we will provide unique quantitative information about the function of cerebellum in voluntary movement, and reveal how learning-related changes influence the neural representation of a well-controlled motor behaviour.

View the original record at the funder ↗

Researchers

Paul Chadderton (EPMC Awardee)

Related Research

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Original classification

Investigator Award in Science

Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.