Cerebellar circuitry is activated during convulsive episodes in the tottering (tg/tg) mutant mouse
Abstract
Tottering (tg) is an autosomal recessive mutation of the calcium channel alpha1A subunit in the mouse that results in epileptic spike and wave discharges, mild ataxia and paroxysmal episodes of involuntary spasms of the limbs, trunk and face. These convulsions have been especially difficult to characterize because of their unpredictable occurrence and lack of electroencephalographic correlates. However, it is, in fact, possible to induce these convulsions, making this facet of the tottering phenotype amenable to controlled experimentation for the first time. Here, the neuroanatomical basis of the convulsions in tottering mice has been identified using in situ hybridization for c-fos messenger RNA to chart abnormal neuronal activity. Convulsion-induced c-fos messenger RNA expression was most prominent in the cerebellum of convulsing tottering mice. Additionally, cerebral cortex and principal cerebellar relay nuclei were also activated during a convulsion. The c-fos activation in the cerebellum temporally preceded expression in cerebral cortex, suggesting that cerebral cortex is not driving the expression of convulsions. These results suggest that the cerebellum, a region not classically associated with paroxysmal events, is impo...Continue Reading
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Enhanced inhibitory neurotransmission in the cerebellar cortex of Atp1a3-deficient heterozygous mice
Noradrenergic blockade prevents attacks in a model of episodic dysfunction caused by a channelopathy
Acute cerebellar knockdown of Sgce reproduces salient features of myoclonus-dystonia (DYT11) in mice
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