Intrinsic plasticity of cerebellar Purkinje cells in motor learning circuits

Intrinsic plasticity of cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs) is recently highlighted in the cerebellar local circuits, however, its physiological impact on the cerebellar learning and memory remains elusive. Using a mouse model of memory consolidation deficiency, we found that the intrinsic plasticity of PCs may be involved in motor memory consolidation. Gain-up training of the vestibulo-ocular reflex produced a decrease in the synaptic weight of PCs in both the wild-type and knockout groups. However, intrinsic plasticity was impaired only in the knockout mice. Furthermore, the observed defects in the intrinsic plasticity of PCs led to the formation of improper neural plasticity in the vestibular nucleus (VN) neurons. Our results suggest that the synergistic modulation of intrinsic and synaptic plasticity in PCs is required for the changes in the local connectivity between the cerebellum and VN that contribute to the long-term storage of motor memory.