Motor-skill learning is associated with cerebellar synaptogenesis and astrocytic hypertrophy, but most of these assessments of cerebellar ultrastructure have been completed after one month of training. After one month of training, the motor-skills necessary to complete these tasks have been acquired for weeks. This experiment aimed to characterize cerebellar ultrastructure during the acquisition phase of motor-skill learning, at a point when performance is still improving. Male and female rats trained for four days on the acrobatic motor learning task, which involved traversing challenging obstacles such as narrow beams and ladders. Concurrently, rats in the motor control condition walked a flat alleyway requiring no skilled movements. After training was complete, all rats were euthanized, and tissue was prepared for electron microscopy. Unbiased stereology techniques were used to assess synaptic and astrocytic plasticity. Results indicated that during the initial days of training, female rats made fewer errors and had shorter latencies on the acrobatic course compared to male rats. However, there were no sex differences in cerebellar ultrastructure. Male and female rats that completed four days of acrobatic training displayed an increase in the density of parallel fiber-Purkinje cell synapses per Purkinje cell and an increase in astrocytic volume, relative to rats in the motor control group.

运动技能学习与小脑突触发生和星形胶质细胞肥大有关，但大多数小脑超微结构评估已在一个月的训练后完成。经过一个月的培训，完成这些任务所需的运动技能已经获得了数周的时间。该实验旨在在运动技能学习的获取阶段表征小脑超微结构，此时性能仍在提高。雄性和雌性大鼠接受了为期四天的杂技运动学习任务训练，其中包括穿越狭窄的横梁和梯子等具有挑战性的障碍。同时，处于运动控制状态的大鼠走在平坦的小巷里，不需要熟练的动作。训练完成后，将所有大鼠安乐死，并准备组织用于电子显微镜检查。无偏视学技术被用来评估突触和星形胶质细胞的可塑性。结果表明，在训练的最初几天，与雄性大鼠相比，雌性大鼠在杂技课程中犯的错误更少，潜伏期更短。然而，小脑超微结构没有性别差异。与运动对照组的大鼠相比，完成四天杂技训练的雄性和雌性大鼠每个浦肯野细胞的平行纤维-浦肯野细胞突触密度增加，星形胶质细胞体积增加。小脑超微结构无性别差异。与运动对照组的大鼠相比，完成四天杂技训练的雄性和雌性大鼠每个浦肯野细胞的平行纤维-浦肯野细胞突触密度增加，星形胶质细胞体积增加。小脑超微结构无性别差异。与运动对照组的大鼠相比，完成四天杂技训练的雄性和雌性大鼠每个浦肯野细胞的平行纤维-浦肯野细胞突触密度增加，星形胶质细胞体积增加。