gms | German Medical Science

71. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (DGNC)
9. Joint Meeting mit der Japanischen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (DGNC) e. V.

21.06. - 24.06.2020

Lesion of the fastigial nucleus in juvenile rats affects cognitive function and neuronal activity in the prefrontal cortex

Kognitive Fähigkeiten und neuronale Aktivität im medialen präfrontalen Kortex nach Läsion des Nucleus fastigii im Rattenmodell

Meeting Abstract

  • presenting/speaker Yazeed Al Krinawe - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Neurochirurgische Klinik, Hannover, Deutschland
  • Simeon Helgers - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Neurochirurgische Klinik, Hannover, Deutschland
  • Shadi Al-Afif - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Neurochirurgische Klinik, Hannover, Deutschland
  • Mesbah Alam - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Neurochirurgische Klinik, Hannover, Deutschland
  • Elvis J. Hermann - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Neurochirurgische Klinik, Hannover, Deutschland
  • Kerstin Schwabe - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Neurochirurgische Klinik, Hannover, Deutschland
  • Joachim K. Krauss - Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Neurochirurgische Klinik, Hannover, Deutschland

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie. 71. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie (DGNC), 9. Joint Meeting mit der Japanischen Gesellschaft für Neurochirurgie. sine loco [digital], 21.-24.06.2020. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2020. DocP197

doi: 10.3205/20dgnc482, urn:nbn:de:0183-20dgnc4828

Published: June 26, 2020

© 2020 Al Krinawe et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.


Outline

Text

Objective: Cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome, with persistent deficits in motor, cognitive and emotional domains, may result from various types of cerebellar midline injuries. It is, however, not exactly known which anatomical structures are involved. Here we investigate whether bilateral fastigial nucleus lesions early in life would affect limbic and cognitive-associative related functions later in life in a rat model. Furthermore, potential changes in the neuronal activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) were tested.

Methods: The fastigial nucleus was lesioned bilaterally by thermocoagulation via stereotaxically implanted electrodes in 23-day old male Sprague Dawley rats. Electrodes were inserted without application of electric current in a sham-lesion group. Together with naïve rats they served as controls. All groups underwent standardized examinations investigating locomotive activity (open field) and coordination (rotarod) during development, as well as anxiety behavior (elevated plus maze), and cognitive-associative functions (radial maze and oddball paradigm) when they had become adult. Thereafter, electrophysiological recordings were performed in the mPFC. Finally, lesions and recording sites were histologically verified.

Results: In rats with lesions of the fastigial nucleus motor coordination on the rotarod was disturbed during development until adulthood, whereas locomotive behavior was only reduced until postsurgical day 7. As adults, lesioned rats were more anxious on the elevated plus maze, and showed mild impairment in learning the oddball paradigm and the radial maze test as compared to both control groups. Electrophysiological recordings showed a pattern change in mPFC single unit activity in lesioned and sham lesioned rats. Furthermore, the coherence between the mPFC local field potential and the electrocardiogram over the sensorimotor cortex was enhanced across delta, theta, alpha and beta frequency bands in lesioned rats as compared to the control groups.

Conclusion: Enhanced anxiety and reduced cognitive functions together with altered firing patterns and low frequency band oscillations in the mPFC after lesions indicate an important role of the fastigial nucleus in the context of the cerebellar cognitive affecting syndrome.