Department of Neurosurgery, Medical School Hannover, Carl-Neuberg-Str.1, 30625, Hannover, Germany.
Brain Struct Funct. 2019 Jun;224(5):1739-1751. doi: 10.1007/s00429-019-01871-3. Epub 2019 Apr 12.
The cerebellum is increasingly recognized to be involved in limbic and cognitive-associative functioning. Cerebellar cognitive affective syndromes may result from various types of injuries. Cerebellar mutism may occur in children after resection of midline tumors in the posterior fossa, which has been thought to be related to damage to the cerebellar vermis. Here, we investigated whether bilateral lesions of the fastigial nucleus, which is located within the upper vermis, would affect social behavior in a rat model. Juvenile male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 23 days, underwent bilateral thermocoagulation of the fastigial nucleus via stereotaxically implanted electrodes under general anesthesia. Electrodes were inserted without application of electric current in a sham-lesion group and naïve rats served as additional controls. All groups underwent standardized examination before surgery and on specific time points up to 49 days after surgery to investigate locomotor activity, motor coordination, social behavior, and ultrasound vocalizations during social interaction. Finally, lesions were verified histologically. Playing behavior and vocalizations were reduced up to 4 weeks after surgery in rats of the lesion group compared to rats with sham-lesions and controls. After surgery in rats of the lesion group, locomotor activity was disturbed for 3 days as compared to sham-lesion rats, but for 4 weeks as compared to controls. Motor coordination measured by the rotarod and balance beam test was compromised until adulthood. Bilateral lesions of the fastigial nucleus in juvenile rats cause a severe and long-lasting reduction of social interaction and motor coordination in juvenile rats, which has some similarities to cerebellar cognitive affective syndromes in the human context. This indicates a modulating role of the fastigial nucleus with regard to neural circuitries relevant for social behavior, such as the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex.
小脑越来越被认为与边缘系统和认知关联功能有关。小脑认知情感综合征可能由各种类型的损伤引起。小脑缄默症可能发生在儿童后颅窝中线肿瘤切除后，这被认为与小脑蚓部损伤有关。在这里，我们研究了位于上蚓部的顶核（fastigial nucleus）的双侧损伤是否会影响大鼠模型的社会行为。23 天大的雄性 Sprague-Dawley 大鼠在全身麻醉下经立体定向植入的电极进行双侧顶核电凝。在假损伤组中，电极在未施加电流的情况下插入，而未接受手术的大鼠和对照组作为额外的对照。所有组在手术前和手术后特定时间点进行标准化检查，直到手术后 49 天，以研究运动活动、运动协调、社会行为和社交互动期间的超声发声。最后，通过组织学验证损伤。与假损伤组和对照组相比，损伤组大鼠在手术后 4 周内的玩耍行为和发声减少。与假损伤组相比，损伤组大鼠在手术后 3 天的运动活动受到干扰，但与对照组相比，4 周受到干扰。通过转棒和平衡梁测试测量的运动协调能力直到成年期都受到损害。在幼年大鼠中双侧顶核损伤会导致幼年大鼠的社会互动和运动协调严重且持久地减少，这在人类背景下与小脑认知情感综合征有些相似。这表明顶核在与社会行为相关的神经回路（如边缘系统和前额叶皮层）中具有调节作用。
