Helgers Simeon O A, Al Krinawe Yazeed, Alam Mesbah, Krauss Joachim K, Schwabe Kerstin, Hermann Elvis J, Al-Afif Shadi
Department of Neurosurgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany; DFG Cluster of Excellence, Hearing4all, Germany.
Department of Neurosurgery, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany.
Neuroscience. 2020 Aug 21;442:29-40. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.06.035. Epub 2020 Jul 1.
The cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome may result from various cerebellar injuries. Although it is not exactly known which anatomical structures are involved, the fastigial nucleus has been thought to play a pivotal role according to recent studies. Here we investigate whether bilateral fastigial nucleus lesions in juvenile rats affect cognitive-associative and limbic related functions in adulthood. Furthermore, potential effects on the neuronal activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and local field coherence with the sensorimotor cortex (SMCtx) were evaluated. The fastigial nucleus was lesioned bilaterally by thermocoagulation via stereotaxically inserted electrodes in 23-day old male Sprague Dawley rats. Naïve and sham-lesioned rats (electrodes inserted above the nucleus and no electrical current applied) served as controls. As adults, all groups were tested for cognitive-associative function, social behavior, and anxiety. Thereafter, electrophysiological recordings were obtained under urethane anesthesia. Finally, lesions and recording sites were histologically verified. Spatial learning in a radial maze test and learning in an operant learning paradigm was disturbed in rats with fastigial lesions. Furthermore, in the elevated plus maze anxiety was enhanced, whereas social behavior was not affected. Electrophysiological recordings showed enhanced local field coherence between mPFC and SMCtx across all frequency bands. Impaired cognitive and affective functions together with enhanced coherence between mPFC and SMCtx after bilateral fastigial nucleus lesions indicate that the fastigial nucleus contribute to the development of the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome and associated motor behavior.
小脑认知情感综合征可能由各种小脑损伤引起。尽管尚不清楚具体涉及哪些解剖结构，但根据最近的研究，顶核被认为起着关键作用。在此，我们研究幼年大鼠双侧顶核损伤是否会影响成年后的认知联想和边缘系统相关功能。此外，还评估了对内侧前额叶皮质（mPFC）神经元活动以及与感觉运动皮质（SMCtx）的局部场相干性的潜在影响。通过立体定位插入电极对23日龄雄性Sprague Dawley大鼠进行热凝，造成双侧顶核损伤。未处理的大鼠和假损伤大鼠（电极插入核上方且未施加电流）作为对照。成年后，对所有组进行认知联想功能、社交行为和焦虑测试。此后，在乌拉坦麻醉下进行电生理记录。最后，通过组织学方法验证损伤和记录部位。在放射状迷宫试验中的空间学习和操作性学习范式中的学习在顶核损伤的大鼠中受到干扰。此外，在高架十字迷宫中焦虑增强，而社交行为未受影响。电生理记录显示，mPFC和SMCtx之间在所有频段的局部场相干性增强。双侧顶核损伤后认知和情感功能受损以及mPFC和SMCtx之间的相干性增强表明，顶核有助于小脑认知情感综合征及相关运动行为的发展。
