Topic: locomotor coordination

The cerebellum is critical for locomotor coordination, but it is still not well understood how locomotor signals are represented within the cerebellum to enable whole-body coordination. In particular, while cerebellar Purkinje cell activity is strongly modulated by the locomotor stride cycle, it is not clear how that activity is constructed from its afferent inputs, nor how it can be used for real-time control. To investigate these questions, we are recording cerebellar population activity with Neuropixels probes during locomotion in head-fixed mice, combined with high-speed 3D tracking of lim

Climbing fiber inputs to the cerebellar cortex drive low-frequency bursts of activity in Purkinje cells - known as complex spikes - which are thought to encode sensorimotor errors critical for movement refinement. Yet, the precise nature of these signals remains elusive for complex behaviors requiring the coordination of multiple body parts, such as locomotion. To understand the contribution of olivary inputs to the cerebellar cortex in locomotor coordination, we performed calcium imaging from Purkinje cell dendrites in unrestrained mice running on treadmills. Combining miniscope imaging with