Baek, Soo Ji Park, Jin Sung Kim, Jinhyun Yamamoto, Yukio Tanaka-Yamamoto, Keiko 2024-01-12T03:32:22Z 2024-01-12T03:32:22Z 2022-03-21 2022-02-14 2050-084X https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/76789 Although cerebellar alterations have been implicated in stress symptoms, the exact contribution of the cerebellum to stress symptoms remains to be elucidated. Here, we demonstrated the crucial role of cerebellar neurons projecting to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the development of chronic stress-induced behavioral alterations in mice. Chronic chemogenetic activation of inhibitory Purkinje cells in crus I suppressed c-Fos expression in the DN and an increase in immobility in the tail suspension test or forced swimming test, which were triggered by chronic stress application. The combination of adeno-associated virus-based circuit mapping and electrophysiological recording identified network connections from crus I to the VTA via the dentate nucleus (DN) of the deep cerebellar nuclei. Furthermore, chronic inhibition of specific neurons in the DN that project to the VTA prevented stressed mice from showing such depression-like behavior, whereas chronic activation of these neurons alone triggered behavioral changes that were comparable with the depression-like behavir Our results indicate that the VTA-projecting cerebellar neurons proactively regulate the development of depression-like behavior, raising the possibility that cerebellum may be an effective target for the prevention of depressive disorders in human. English eLife Sciences Publications VTA-projecting cerebellar neurons mediate stress-dependent depression-like behaviors Article 10.7554/elife.72981 1 eLife, v.11 eLife 11 N scie scopus 000759188700001 2-s2.0-85124580973 Biology Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics Article VENTRAL TEGMENTAL AREA DOPAMINE NEURONS PURKINJE-CELLS SYNAPTIC CONNECTIVITY TREATMENT-RESISTANT IN-VIVO CRUS-I PLASTICITY MIDBRAIN REWARD cerebellum depression-like behavior chronic mild stress ventral tegmental area dentate nucleus chemogenetic manipulation Mouse