A disynaptic basal ganglia connection to the inferior olive: potential for basal ganglia influence on cerebellar learning.

Recent studies have shown that the cerebellum and the basal ganglia are interconnected at subcortical levels. However, a subcortical basal ganglia connection to the inferior olive (IO), being the source of the olivocerebellar climbing fiber system, is not known. We have used classical tracing with CTb, retrograde transneuronal infection with wildtype rabies virus, conditional tracing with genetically modified rabies virus, and examination of material made available by the Allen Brain Institute, to study potential basal ganglia connections to the inferior olive in rats and mice.

Organization of cerebral projections to identified cerebellar zones in the posterior cerebellum of the rat.

The cerebrocerebellar connection makes use of two of the largest fiber tracts in the mammalian brain, i.e., the cerebral and medial cerebellar peduncles.