A Model of Long-Term Memory Storage in the Cerebellar Cortex: a Possible Role for Plasticity at Parallel Fiber Synapses Onto Stellate͞basket Interneurons
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 94, pp. 14200–14205, December 1997 Psychology A model of long-term memory storage in the cerebellar cortex: A possible role for plasticity at parallel fiber synapses onto stellateybasket interneurons GARRETT T. KENYON† Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin, Houston, TX 77030 Edited by Richard F. Thompson, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, and approved October 3, 1997 (received for review April 14, 1997) ABSTRACT By evoking changes in climbing fiber activity, Despite evidence supporting their postulated role in motor movement errors are thought to modify synapses from parallel learning, theoretical arguments suggest that memories stored fibers onto Purkinje cells (pf*Pkj) so as to improve subse- at pf*Pkj synapses would be susceptible to long-term degra- quent motor performance. Theoretical arguments suggest dation as a result of ongoing motor adaptation. First, motor there is an intrinsic tradeoff, however, between motor adap- memories are likely to be distributed across overlapping sets of tation and long-term storage. Assuming a baseline rate of pf*Pkj synapses. If motor memories did not overlap, the motor errors is always present, then repeated performance of storage capacity of pf*Pkj synapses would be greatly reduced any learned movement will generate a series of climbing (12, 17). Second, it is reasonable to assume that the pattern of fiber-mediated corrections. By reshuffling the synaptic synaptic weights necessary to effect any given movement is weights responsible for any given movement, such corrections non-unique. If the activity of a Purkinje cell depends only on will degrade the memories for other learned movements stored the total sum of the synaptic input at any given moment, then in overlapping sets of synapses.
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