IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v11y2020i1d10.1038_s41467-020-16053-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exercise enhances motor skill learning by neurotransmitter switching in the adult midbrain

Author

Listed:
  • Hui-quan Li

    (Division of Biological Sciences and Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior
    University of California San Diego)

  • Nicholas C. Spitzer

    (Division of Biological Sciences and Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior
    University of California San Diego)

Abstract

Physical exercise promotes motor skill learning in normal individuals and those with neurological disorders but its mechanism of action is unclear. We find that one week of voluntary wheel running enhances the acquisition of motor skills in normal adult mice. One week of running also induces switching from ACh to GABA expression in neurons in the caudal pedunculopontine nucleus (cPPN). Consistent with regulation of motor skills, we show that the switching neurons make projections to the substantia nigra (SN), ventral tegmental area (VTA) and ventrolateral-ventromedial nuclei of the thalamus (VL-VM). Use of viral vectors to override transmitter switching blocks the beneficial effect of running on motor skill learning. We suggest that neurotransmitter switching provides the basis by which sustained running benefits motor skill learning, presenting a target for clinical treatment of movement disorders.

Suggested Citation

  • Hui-quan Li & Nicholas C. Spitzer, 2020. "Exercise enhances motor skill learning by neurotransmitter switching in the adult midbrain," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-16053-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16053-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16053-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-020-16053-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Scott R. Burlingham & Nicole F. Wong & Lindsay Peterkin & Lily Lubow & Carolina Dos Santos Passos & Orion Benner & Michael Ghebrial & Thomas P. Cast & Matthew A. Xu-Friedman & Thomas C. Südhof & Soham, 2022. "Induction of synapse formation by de novo neurotransmitter synthesis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-16053-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.