Laboratory of Neuroscience, Department of Physiotherapy, Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil.
Laboratory of Neurological Physiotherapy, Department of Physiotherapy, Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil.
Neurosci Lett. 2021 Nov 20;765:136271. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2021.136271. Epub 2021 Sep 28.
The cerebellum is involved in the control of balance, movement and the acquisition of motor skills. Scientific and technological advances have shown that the cerebellum also participates in non-motor functions, such as emotional control, memory and language. However, which cerebellar areas and functional circuits are predominantly activated in these different functions is not known. The current study analyzed the neuronal activation of cerebellar areas and other brain structures (e.g., hippocampus, amygdala, prelimbic cortex and infralimbic cortex) after exposure to rotarod and inhibitory avoidance behavioral models to establish possible neuronal circuits for motor and non-motor functions. Naïve male Swiss albino mice weighing 25 to 35 g were used. The animals were subjected to three conditions for behavioral evaluation: inhibitory avoidance, which is a model used to infer emotional memory; rotarod, which assesses motor performance and motor learning; and housing box/control. The mice remained in their housing box in Condition 1. Mice in Condition 2 were exposed to the inhibitory avoidance box for 2 days, and mice in Condition 3 were exposed to the rotarod for 3 days. The animals were euthanized after the last exposure to the apparatus then perfused with paraformaldehyde. Brains were extracted and sectioned for immunofluorescence analysis of c-Fos protein in pre-established structures. Images of the brain structures were obtained, and neuronal activation was analyzed microscopically. One-way analysis of variance was used, followed by Tukey's post-hoc test. There was no significant difference in c-Fos expression in lobe VI of the cerebellum between the different conditions. Differences in c-Fos expression were observed in the basolateral amygdala, infralimbic cortex and prelimbic cortex, which are relevant to emotional processes, after exposure to the evaluation apparatuses. Pearson's r correlation coefficient test showed a positive correlation between the variables of structures related to emotional processes. We concluded that there was no significant difference in c-Fos expression in lobe VI of the cerebellum after exposure of the animals to the evaluation apparatus. However, there was a difference in c-Fos expression in other brain structures related to emotional processes after exposure of animals to the apparatus.
小脑参与平衡、运动和运动技能的获得的控制。科学技术的进步表明，小脑还参与非运动功能，如情绪控制、记忆和语言。然而，哪些小脑区域和功能回路在这些不同的功能中被优先激活尚不清楚。本研究分析了暴露于转棒和抑制性回避行为模型后小脑区域和其他脑结构（例如海马体、杏仁核、前额叶皮层和下边缘皮层）的神经元激活，以建立运动和非运动功能的可能神经元回路。使用体重为 25 至 35 克的雄性瑞士白化小鼠。动物进行了三种行为评估条件：抑制性回避，用于推断情绪记忆的模型；转棒，评估运动表现和运动学习；和住房箱/对照。条件 1 中动物留在其住房箱中。条件 2 中的动物暴露于抑制性回避箱中 2 天，条件 3 中的动物暴露于转棒中 3 天。最后一次暴露于仪器后，动物被安乐死，然后用多聚甲醛灌注。提取大脑并对预先建立的结构中的 c-Fos 蛋白进行免疫荧光分析。获得大脑结构的图像，并在显微镜下分析神经元激活。使用单向方差分析，然后进行 Tukey 事后检验。在不同条件之间，小脑 VI 叶的 c-Fos 表达没有差异。在暴露于评估仪器后，观察到杏仁核基底外侧、下边缘皮层和前额叶皮层的 c-Fos 表达存在差异，这些区域与情绪过程有关。Pearson r 相关系数检验显示与情绪过程相关的结构的变量之间存在正相关。我们得出结论，在动物暴露于评估仪器后，小脑 VI 叶的 c-Fos 表达没有差异。然而，在动物暴露于仪器后，与情绪过程相关的其他脑结构的 c-Fos 表达存在差异。
