Gain adaptation and phase dynamics of compensatory eye movements in mice

The vestibulocerebellum is involved in the control of compensatory eye movements. To investigate its role in the learning and timing of motor behaviour, eye movements in normal and mutant mice were investigated for the first time with the use of search coils. Wild-type mice showed the ability to increase the gain of their vestibulo-ocular reflex by visuo-vestibular training. This adaptation did not occur in lurcher mice, a natural mouse mutant that completely lacks Purkinje cells. During the optokinetic reflex the phase (timing) of the eye movements of lurchers lagged behind that of wild-type littermates, whereas during the vestibulo-ocular reflex it led that of the wild types. Ablations of different parts of the vestibulocerebellum indicated that the flocculus is necessary for the adaptation and the phase-leading effects of the cerebellum, whereas the nodulus might contribute to its phase-lagging effects. We conclude that Purkinje cells in the vestibulocerebellum are necessary for both learning and timing of compensatory eye movements in mice, and that the flocculus and nodulus may play antagonistic roles in these processes. The present description of the basic principles of cerebellar eye-movement control opens up the possibility to investigate the mechanisms of this motor behaviour at the molecular level in genetically manipulated mutant mice.