Behavioral effects of neonatal lesions on the cerebellar system

Robert Lalonde (1) , Catherine Strazielle (2)

1 ICONES - Laboratoire de Psychologie et Neurosciences : Investigations Cognitives, du Neurone à la Société
2 SIMPA - Stress, Immunité, Pathogènes

Several rodent models with spontaneous mutations causing cerebellar pathology are impaired in motor functions during the neonatal period, including Grid2(LC), Rora(sg), Dab1(scm), Girk2(wv), Lmx1a(dr-sst) Myo5a(dn), Inpp4a(wbl), and Cacna1a(rol) mice as well as shaker and dystonic rats. Deficits are also evident in murine null mutants such as Zic1, Fgfr1/FgFr2, and Xpa/Ercc8. Behavioral deficits are time-dependent following X-irradiated- or aspiration-induced lesions of the cerebellum in rats. In addition, motor functions are deficient after lesions in cerebellar-related pathways. As in animal subjects, sensorimotor disturbances have been described in children with cerebellar lesions. These results underline the importance of the cerebellum and its connections in the development of motor functions.

Keywords: Cerebellum; Cerebellar mutants; Motor coordination; Purkinje cells; Granule cells; Paw-clasping; X-Irradiation; SHIRPA; Body righting; Rotorod; Stationary beam; Wire suspension

Domains: Immunology; Microbiology and Parasitology

Robert Lalonde, Catherine Strazielle. Behavioral effects of neonatal lesions on the cerebellar system. International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, 2015, 43, pp.58 - 65. ⟨10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2015.04.007⟩. ⟨hal-01482061⟩