"Mechanisms of cross-modal transfer for cerebellar associative learning" by Merit Kruse

A talk by Merit Kruse (Megan Carey Lab, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal)

The ability to generalize previously learned associations to new stimuli can be an important determinant for survival. Here we investigated neural mechanisms of generalization using delay eyeblink conditioning, a cerebellum-dependent form of learning, in which mice learn to close their eyelid in response to a neutral conditioned stimulus (CS) that predicts an air puff to the eye. Consistent with previous work in other species, we found that learning in response to a CS in one sensory modality subsequently facilitates the rate of acquisition to a different modality, a process termed cross-modal transfer (CMT). We find that in mice, learning to a visual CS is more readily enhanced by previous learning to a whisker somatosensory CS than the other way around. To investigate circuit mechanisms for CMT, we used genetically modified mouse lines in combination with optogenetic delivery of the CS to different cerebellar circuit elements. We found that training to a mossy fiber optogenetic CS induces CMT to both visual and somatosensory modalities. As was the case with sensory-sensory CMT, optogenetic-sensory CMT also preferentially enhanced learning to a visual, rather than somatosensory, CS. In ongoing work, we are using two-photon imaging to further probe the mechanisms of CMT on single-cell and population levels.

If you want to speak with Merit, please contact bkuhn@oist.jp