Effects of voluntary exercise on intrinsic excitability and synaptic transmission of cerebellar Purkinje cell

Abstract

Exercise has been considered to be beneficial to learning and memory. Such exercise-induced learning enhancement promotes synaptic plasticity, which is typically accompanied by changes in neurotransmitters, spine density, and synaptogenesis. Intrinsic excitability of a neuron is closely related to learning and together with synaptic strength it can modulate the neurons functional characteristics. However, detailed physiological characteristic changes of cerebellar Purkinje cell (PC) after exercise are not widely known. To test the effect of physical exercise on PC, mice were trained on running wheels for 30 days. As a result, the exercised group, which ran an average of 6.9 Km a day gained significantly less weight compared to control group. A number of parameters of intrinsic excitability and paired-pulse ratio at parallel fiber (PF)- and climbing fiber (CF)- to PC as well as PF-PC long-term depression (LTD) were evaluated by using patch clamp technique. Interestingly, yet, including firing patterns, none of such parameters have altered. These findings suggest that voluntary physical exercise does not alter PCs intrinsic excitability and plasticity at PF / CF-PC synapses.