Designing Behavioral Tasks for Cerebellar Functional Analysis in the Mouse
Cerebellar research is rapidly expanding beyond the study of traditional cerebellar-dependent motor behaviors. As it has become widely recognized that the cerebellum contributes to a range of sensorimotor behaviors that also include the social and cognitive domains, it is necessary to design new and flexible behaviors in animal models to study cerebellar function. In particular, the mouse can provide an outstanding model system for studying cerebellar function during behavior due to the wide access for both genetic and experimental manipulations, and the richness of behavioral tasks that mice can be engaged in. This chapter will highlight methods for the design and evaluation of new cerebellar tasks in mice that are also amenable for a variety of in vivo experimental measurements and manipulations such as electrophysiology, optogenetics, and calcium imaging.
