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Response to “Fallacies of Mice Experiments”

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Abstract

In a recent Editorial, De Schutter commented on our recent study on the roles of a cortico-cerebellar loop in motor planning in mice (De Schutter 2019, Neuroinformatics, 17, 181–183, Gao et al. 2018, Nature, 563, 113–116). Two issues were raised. First, De Schutter questions the involvement of the fastigial nucleus in motor planning, rather than the dentate nucleus, given previous anatomical studies in non-human primates. Second, De Schutter suggests that our study design did not delineate different components of the behavior and the fastigial nucleus might play roles in sensory discrimination rather than motor planning. These comments are based on anatomical studies in other species and homology-based arguments and ignore key anatomical data and neurophysiological experiments from our study. Here we outline our interpretation of existing data and point out gaps in knowledge where future studies are needed.

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Notes

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

    Zhenyu Gao & Chris I. De Zeeuw

  2. Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Alyse M. Thomas, Amada M. Abrego & Nuo Li

  3. Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, VA, 20147, USA

    Michael N. Economo & Karel Svoboda

  4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Michael N. Economo

  5. Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Chris I. De Zeeuw

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  1. Zhenyu Gao
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  2. Alyse M. Thomas
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Gao, Z., Thomas, A.M., Economo, M.N. et al. Response to “Fallacies of Mice Experiments”. Neuroinform 17, 475–478 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12021-019-09433-y

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