Frequency-dependent cerebellar circuits independently gate social vocalizations and movement
Abstract
Communication depends on precise coordination between motor execution and cognition. Here we reveal that the cerebellum exerts real-time control over social vocalizations in adult mice. Optogenetic activation of excitatory cerebellar output in the superior cerebellar peduncle suppressed ultrasonic vocalizations with frequency-dependent potency while inducing distinct motor phenotypes. Systematic functional mapping across cerebellar regions and cell types revealed that vocal suppression can occur in the absence of overt motor impairment, suggesting selective control of vocal output beyond gross movement disruption. We identified the periaqueductal gray (PAG), a conserved midbrain vocal control center, as a key downstream mediator of this effect. Deep brain stimulation of the PAG rescued vocal deficits in a model of cerebellar dysfunction without rescuing motor incoordination. These findings define a cerebellar-midbrain pathway that gates vocal behavior and demonstrate that targeted therapeutic neuromodulation can selectively restore communication-related output even in the presence of persistent cerebellar-driven motor deficits.
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BibTeX
@article{brandenburg2026frequencydependent,
title = {{Frequency-dependent cerebellar circuits independently gate social vocalizations and movement}},
author = {Cheryl Brandenburg and Snigdha Srivastava and Alejandro G. Rey Hipolito and Tao Lin and Benjamin R. Arenkiel and Roy V. Sillitoe},
journal = {iScience},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2026.117706},
url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2589004226030877},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Frequency-dependent cerebellar circuits independently gate social vocalizations and movement
AU - Cheryl Brandenburg
AU - Snigdha Srivastava
AU - Alejandro G. Rey Hipolito
AU - Tao Lin
AU - Benjamin R. Arenkiel
AU - Roy V. Sillitoe
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/30
JO - iScience
DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2026.117706
UR - https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2589004226030877
AB - Communication depends on precise coordination between motor execution and cognition. Here we reveal that the cerebellum exerts real-time control over social vocalizations in adult mice. Optogenetic activation of excitatory cerebellar output in the superior cerebellar peduncle suppressed ultrasonic vocalizations with frequency-dependent potency while inducing distinct motor phenotypes. Systematic functional mapping across cerebellar regions and cell types revealed that vocal suppression can occur in the absence of overt motor impairment, suggesting selective control of vocal output beyond gross movement disruption. We identified the periaqueductal gray (PAG), a conserved midbrain vocal control center, as a key downstream mediator of this effect. Deep brain stimulation of the PAG rescued vocal deficits in a model of cerebellar dysfunction without rescuing motor incoordination. These findings define a cerebellar-midbrain pathway that gates vocal behavior and demonstrate that targeted therapeutic neuromodulation can selectively restore communication-related output even in the presence of persistent cerebellar-driven motor deficits.
SN - 2589-0042
ER -