Project description
Dissecting cerebellum function
The cerebellum is the structure that is located at the back of the brain and is responsible for movement, motor learning and cognition. Neurons in the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) link the cerebellum with many regions of the brain and assist in motor output. The EU-funded DeepPop project aims to understand how this information from other parts of the brain integrates in DCN neurons. Researchers will apply modern techniques and take into account recent evidence on DCN structure to study the neural computations that take place in the cerebellum. Results will advance our knowledge on sensorimotor systems as well as help explain how cerebellar dysfunction causes a wide range of disorders.
Objective
The cerebellum is a key structure of the central nervous system that contains more than half the neurons of the brain. It is highly conserved across vertebrates and crucial for coordinated movement, motor learning and cognition. Cerebellar dysfunction causes a wide range of motor (ataxia, dystonia) or non-motor (autism, schizophrenia) disorders. It is made of two structures: the cerebellar cortex and the Deep Cerebellar Nuclei (DCN). While the former has been thoroughly studied, the DCN - the actual output of the structure - are much less understood. Technological limitations and experimental difficulties have limited the study of DCN processing rules both at the cellular and at the population level. A multidisciplinary approach combining recent discoveries on DCN structure, modern cell type labelling strategies and optogenetics, and novel optical tools based on work performed during my first postdoctoral project (acousto-optic 2-photon imaging coupled with GRIN lenses) will address the following fundamental open questions that limit our understanding of sensorimotor systems: 1) How are inputs carrying sensorimotor information from different parts of the brain (mossy fibres (MFs) and climbing fibres (CFs)) integrated by individual DCN neurons? 2) How are CFs and MFs carrying different sensory modalities processed by DCN neurons at the neuronal and dendritic levels? And how does it relate to distinct DCN neuron subpopulations? 3) What is the dynamic of these subpopulations during a behavioural task in vivo? The outcome of the DeepPop project will provide new knowledge of the computations performed in the cerebellum, novel optical solutions to study deep brain structures and data that will be used by the wider community (e.g. modellers, theoretician, clinicians) and increase our general understanding of sensorimotor systems.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesneurobiology
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinepsychiatryschizophrenia
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
75794 Paris
France