Cognitive Impact of Cerebellar Non-invasive Stimulation in a Patient With Schizophrenia.

Cerebellum plays a role in the regulation of cognitive processes. Cerebellar alterations could explain cognitive impairments in schizophrenia. We describe the case of a 50 years old patient with schizophrenia whom underwent cerebellar transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS).

A subcortical circuit linking the cerebellum to the basal ganglia engaged in vocal learning.

Speech is a complex sensorimotor skill, and vocal learning involves both the basal ganglia and the cerebellum. These subcortical structures interact indirectly through their respective loops with thalamo-cortical and brainstem networks, and directly via subcortical pathways, but the role of their interaction during sensorimotor learning remains undetermined. While songbirds and their song-dedicated basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuitry offer a unique opportunity to study subcortical circuits involved in vocal learning, the cerebellar contribution to avian song learning remains unknown.

mGlu1 receptor canonical signaling pathway contributes to the opening of the orphan GluD2 receptor.

The orphan Glutamate receptor Delta2 (GluD2) intrinsic ion channel activity is indirectly triggered by glutamate through stimulation of the metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGlu1), in cerebellar Purkinje cells. However, the mechanisms of GluD2 ion channel opening are entirely unknown. In this work, we investigated the signaling pathways underlying the mGlu1-induced GluD2 current, performing whole-cell voltage-clamp recordings from mGlu1 and GluD2 transfected HEK293 cells.

Type 1 metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGlu1) trigger the gating of GluD2 delta glutamate receptors.

The orphan GluD2 receptor belongs to the ionotropic glutamate receptor family but does not bind glutamate. Ligand-gated GluD2 currents have never been evidenced, and whether GluD2 operates as an ion channel has been a long-standing question. Here, we show that GluD2 gating is triggered by type 1 metabotropic glutamate receptors, both in a heterologous expression system and in Purkinje cells.