Multiple signals evoked by unisensory stimulation converge onto cerebellar granule and Purkinje cells in mice

The cerebellum receives signals directly from peripheral sensory systems and indirectly from the neocortex. Even a single tactile stimulus can activate both of these pathways. Here we report how these different types of signals are integrated in the cerebellar cortex. We used in vivo whole-cell recordings from granule cells and unit recordings from Purkinje cells in mice in which primary somatosensory cortex (S1) could be optogenetically inhibited. Tactile stimulation of the upper lip produced two-phase granule cell responses (with latencies of similar to 8ms and 29ms), for which only the late phase was S1 dependent. In Purkinje cells, complex spikes and the late phase of simple spikes were S1 dependent. These results indicate that individual granule cells combine convergent inputs from the periphery and neocortex and send their outputs to Purkinje cells, which then integrate those signals with climbing fiber signals from the neocortex. Misa Shimuta et al. evaluate the responses of cerebellar granule and Purkinje cells to tactile lip stimulation accompanied by optogenetic silencing of the rodent primary somatosensory cortex (S1). They show that peripheral sensory information converges with S1 signals onto the same granule cell, and that this integration affects the output of both granule and Purkinje cells.