Role of the cerebellum in exploration behavior.
Compared to +/+ mice, Lurcher (+/Lc) mutant mice whose cerebellar cortex is lacking almost all Purkinje cells and granule cells, exhibit a low level of exploration; this deficit is not due to a low level of activity but to both a decreased motivation to explore a novel environment and to spatial deficits. The characteristics of exploration in cerebellectomized +/+ and +/Lc mice suggest that the cerebellum is involved not only in cognitive but also in motivational processes.
UPRES PSY.CO 1780, Laboratoire de Neurobiologie de l'Apprentissage, Université de Rouen, France.
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Caston
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Chianale
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Delhaye-Bouchaud
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Mariani
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000502:physiology*; D003714:Denervation; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008818:Mice, Neurologic Mutants; D009042:Motivation