During locomotion on a track ball by a mouse as compared to immobility, microzones measuring 200 μm (mediolaterally) at the cerebellar cortex exhibit a stable and synchronized firing rate (Mukamel, Schnitzer et al. 2009). The Purkinje cells within a microzone are innervated by the same climbing fibres, which explains why the firing of the cells is highly correlated. It was found using two-photon calcium imaging that the rate of firing of the complex spikes within a microzone was 0.5 Hz under anesthesia, 0.8 Hz under awake immobility, and 1 Hz during locomotion on the track ball (Fig. 7 of Mukamel, Schnitzer et al. 2009), each representing a distinct behavioral state that is already highly automated save the anesthetic state during which ‘global’ learning cannot occur. What this means is that the cerebellum receives a continuous barrage of activity from the inferior olive such that any change to the rate (outside a neutral window of ~ 0.5-2 Hz) signals the time to change the synaptic weights at the Purkinje neurons, by either decreasing or increasing the simple-spike rate to set a new adaptation level at the muscles [as illustrated for behavior by a US Military training curve, Fig. 1: once performance achieves asymptote ‘Training Threshold’ the firing of the inferior olive would be stabilized; also see Loyola, De Zeeuw et al. 2019 & Luque, Arleo et al. 2019 & Tehovnik, Patel, Tolias et al. 2021 for supporting evidence].
If we could monitor Usain Bolt’s Purkinje neural firing at the microzones of the locomotor area of the cerebellum (lobules II to VI), we would observe continuous synaptic modifications over the one decade of training prior to the Olympic games, as Bolt’s respiratory rate (CO2 monitored via the inferior olive) and stride rate (proprioception monitored via the mossy fibres) were under continuous re-calibration, thereby sculpting the performance of Bolt over many bouts of successive asymptotic achievements (Tehovnik, Hasanbegović, Chen 2024). The same principle applies to when your child goes to school and must pass exams to attain the next level of scholastic attainment, an attainment that can lead to becoming a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer. This is so, since every examination requires that a child converts his or her learned knowledge into a motor response: e.g., by writing essays or by answering multiple-choice questions using a pencil or keyboard.
Figure 1: Soldiers’ response/adaptation to overreaching, overtraining, and overuse. From Training Circular TC 3-22.20 (FM 21-20) Army Physical Readiness Training August 2010 by United States Government US Army, chapter 5 on page 5-4, Figure 5-1.
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