(Press-News.org)
A team of researchers at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), has reconstructed for the first time how the cerebellum establishes its connections with the rest of the brain during the earliest stages of life. The work, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), describes in detail the phases in which these neural connections emerge, expand, and are refined, offering the first comprehensive map of the development of cerebellar projections across the mouse brain.
Although the cerebellum has traditionally been associated with motor control, growing evidence shows that it also plays a role in processes such as emotional regulation, social behavior, and other cognitive functions. However, until now, it was not precisely known when it began interacting with other regions of the brain, communication that is fundamental for these cerebellar roles. This gap motivated the work of the group Development, Wiring and Function of Cerebellar Circuits, led by Juan Antonio Moreno Bravo at the IN.
Three key stages
The team has shown that the pathways connecting the cerebellum with other brain areas develop following a highly organized pattern: “We observed that cerebellar projections begin to form very early, already in the embryo, when the first axons start connecting with their target regions”, explains Moreno Bravo. These connections then expand rapidly and massively, accompanying the intense brain growth that takes place during these early stages.
Finally, during the first postnatal weeks, the circuits undergo a refinement period in which the definitive connections are consolidated. “This stepwise sequence allowed us to pinpoint the periods when the cerebellum may start influencing other brain regions, even while it is still in an immature developmental stage. These early periods represent highly relevant windows for understanding how the brain establishes its internal architecture”, adds the researcher.
This work was made possible thanks to a combination of cutting-edge genetic tools and whole-brain three-dimensional imaging techniques. Using specific fluorescent markers, the researchers labeled the different neurons of the deep cerebellar nuclei, the main output pathway of the cerebellum. They then applied advanced tissue-clearing and microscopy methods to visualize the axons in three dimensions and track their trajectory from origin to target regions.
“Seeing these projections in 3D, how they emerge in the embryo and spread throughout the brain, was truly fascinating”, says Raquel Murcia Ramón, first author of the study. “Many of these connections had never been seen with such precision, and being able to observe their evolution in time allowed us to reconstruct a full developmental story of these circuits”, she adds.
Beyond the detailed mapping, the results point to a broader idea: the cerebellum may play a much earlier and more influential role in shaping the developing brain than previously thought. “It has traditionally been assumed that the cerebellum matures late and that its involvement in complex functions emerges gradually and only at later stages. Our work suggests the opposite: the cerebellum begins building its network very early and may already be actively contributing to the formation of circuits in other brain regions from initial developmental phases”, explains Moreno Bravo. This perspective, he argues, “may help us rethink the role of the cerebellum in development, not as a late modulator of movement, but as an early node contributing to the construction of broader brain networks”.
The map generated by the IN CSIC-UMH team constitutes a reference tool for understanding how cerebellar connectivity is structured from the very beginning of life. In addition, it provides a detailed temporal framework to investigate how early experiences, genetic factors, or environmental conditions may alter the developing cerebellum and, consequently, the neural networks it connects with. “This work lays the groundwork for exploring not only how the cerebellum contributes to typical brain development, but also how cerebellar alterations could give rise to pathological conditions, including some linked to neurodevelopmental disorders”, researchers note.
This study was supported by funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) – Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and the Severo Ochoa Program for Centers of Excellence.
END
Daily scans taken during prostate cancer radiotherapy could be repurposed to guide changes to treatment, reducing the risk of side effects, a study suggests.
Using AI, scientists found that images originally taken to help position patients for radiotherapy could also identify changes linked to future rectal bleeding as early as one week into treatment.
Monitoring these early changes could help doctors decide when to adapt radiotherapy to limit side effects while maintaining cancer control, experts ...
AI-supported recommender systems should provide users with the best possible suggestions for their enquiries. These systems often have to serve different target groups and take other stakeholders into account who also influence the machine’s response: e.g. service providers, municipalities or tourism associations. So how can a fair and transparent recommendation be achieved here? Researchers from Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), the University of Graz and Know Center investigated this using a cycling tour app from the Graz-based start-up Cyclebee. They conducted research into how the diversity of human needs can be taken into account by AI. ...
Sea urchins are ecosystem engineers, the marine equivalent of mega-herbivores on land. By grazing and shredding seaweed and seagrass, they control algal growth and promote the survival of slow-growing organisms like corals and some calcifying algae. They are likewise prey for a plethora of marine mammals, fish, crustaceans, and sea stars. However, when they become overabundant, for example when these predators are overhunted or overfished, sea urchins can also inflict substantial damage to marine habits and form so-called ‘urchin barrens’.
Now, a study in Frontiers in Marine Science has revealed that over the last four years, an unrecognized pandemic that ...
A new study from Flinders University offers insight into how two of the world’s most popular beverages, coffee and tea, may influence bone health in older women.
The research, published in the journal Nutrients, followed nearly 10,000 women aged 65 and older over a decade to explore whether their daily habits of sipping coffee or tea were linked to changes in bone mineral density (BMD), a key indicator of osteoporosis risk.
Osteoporosis is a major global health concern, affecting one in three women over 50 and contributing to millions of fractures each year. With coffee and tea consumed daily by billions worldwide, understanding their impact on bone health ...
Free or subsidized school meals lead to modest gains in math and school enrolment, according to a new Cochrane review that examined the global impact of school feeding programs on disadvantaged children in both high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries.
The research team, led by scientists from University of Ottawa, found that providing free or subsidized meals in schools slightly improves math achievement and enrolment rates in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and likely contributes to small gains in physical growth indicators such as height-for-age ...
Researchers at UCLA have developed an artificial intelligence tool that can use electronic health records to identify patients with undiagnosed Alzheimer’s disease, addressing a critical gap in Alzheimer’s care: significant underdiagnosis, particularly among underrepresented communities.
The study appears in the journal npj Digital Medicine.
Disparities in Alzheimer’s and dementia diagnosis among certain populations have been a longstanding issue. African Americans are nearly ...
A new metal free carbon catalyst made from seaweed could offer a greener way to clean antibiotic polluted water, according to a new study in Biochar X. The team reports that its porous carbon material, derived from a common marine polysaccharide and doped with nitrogen and sulfur, rapidly breaks down the antibiotic norfloxacin in water while avoiding the use of toxic metals or sulfur chemicals.
Turning seaweed into clean water materials
In the study, researchers transformed kappa carrageenan, a sulfated polysaccharide extracted from red algae and widely used as a food thickener, into a highly porous carbon catalyst. By combining the biomass with melamine as a nitrogen ...
Turning a weak process into a strong one
PFOA is a widely used perfluorinated compound valued for its durability, but its strong carbon fluorine bonds make it extremely hard to break down once it reaches the environment. Traditional advanced oxidation processes based on ultraviolet light and powerful oxidants often require high temperatures, large doses of chemicals, or long treatment times to partially degrade these molecules.
In the new work, the research team tested several UV based redox systems and found that a standard UV persulfate setup could only achieve 27 percent ...
A landmark UK study has revealed that acute heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) is placing a significant hidden burden on the NHS, with around £13 million spent annually on hospital admissions and post-discharge care.
The study, led by Dr Bassel Wattar of Anglia Ruskin University and published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women’s Health journal, is the first UK-based multicentre study to evaluate the prevalence of acute HMB and number of women requiring red blood ...
Slow tapering of antidepressants combined with psychological support prevents depression relapse to a similar extent as remaining on antidepressants, and is much more effective than fast tapering or sudden stopping of the medication, finds the most rigorous review and meta-analysis on the topic to date, involving over 17,000 adults.
The researchers estimated that slow tapering of antidepressants plus psychological support could prevent one relapse in every five individuals compared with abrupt stopping or fast tapering – offering a clinically meaningful benefit.
However, ...
