Purpose: Recent anatomical studies showed the presence of cerebellar and basal ganglia connections. It is thus conceivable that the cerebellum may influence the striatal synaptic transmission in general, and synaptic plasticity in particular.
Methods: In the present neurophysiological investigation in brain slices, we studied striatal long-term depression (LTD), a crucial form of synaptic plasticity involved in motor learning after cerebellar lesions in rats.
Results: Striatal LTD was fully abolished in the left striatum of rats with right hemicerebellectomy recorded 3 and 7 days following surgery, when the motor deficits were at their peak. Fifteen days after the hemicerebellectomy, rats had partially compensated their motor deficits and high-frequency stimulation of excitatory synapses in the left striatum was able to induce a stable LTD. Striatal plasticity was conversely normal ipsilaterally to cerebellar lesions, as well as in the right and left striatum of sham-operated animals.
Conclusions: These data show that the cerebellum controls striatal synaptic plasticity, supporting the notion that the two structures operate in conjunction during motor learning.