bioRxiv · 10.1101/126086
Cerebellar Re-Encoding Of Self-Generated Head Movements
Abstract
Head movements are primarily sensed in a reference frame tied to the head, yet they are used to calculate self-orientation relative to the world. This requires to re-encode head kinematic signals into a reference frame anchored to earth-centered landmarks such as gravity, through computations whose neuronal substrate remains to be determined. Here, we studied the encoding of self-generated head movements in the caudal cerebellar vermis, an area essential for graviceptive functions. We found that, contrarily to peripheral vestibular inputs, most Purkinje cells exhibited a mixed sensitivity to head rotational and gravitational information and were differentially modulated by active and passive movements. In a subpopulation of cells, this mixed sensitivity underlay a tuning to rotations about an axis defined relative to gravity. Therefore, we show that the caudal vermis hosts a re-encoded, gravitationally-polarized representation of self-generated head kinematics.
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Dugue, G. P., Tihy, M., Gourevitch, B., Lena, C.. 2017-04-10. Cerebellar Re-Encoding Of Self-Generated Head Movements. https://doi.org/10.1101/126086
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