Sustained attention in the mouse: a study of the relationship with the cerebellum

To explore the role of the cerebellum in sustained attention, the authors tested lurcher, wildtype, and lurcher chimeric mice with zero, normal, and variable numbers of Purkinje cells, respectively, in a previously validated task of sustained attention. Results indicate that lurcher mice had a deficit in performance likely related to their motor disability, whereas lurcher chimeras performed similarly to wildtype controls. Presentation of auditory or visual distracters caused deficits in the performance of all mice that were specific to either signal (auditory) or non-signal (visual) events. The authors' results do not support a role of the cerebellum in sustained attention, instead indicating that behavioral changes are an indirect result of motor deficits.