Professor Richard Apps

Summary

The overall aim of my research is to understand the contributions the mammalian cerebellum makes to the control of voluntary limb movements.

The cerebellum is the largest motor structure within the brain and to succeed in this aim would substantially increase knowledge of the way in which movements are controlled, as well as shed light on the functional organization of a major neural structure and the pathways linking it to other parts of the nervous system.

In particular, the climbing fibre pathways connecting the inferior olive (a brainstem nucleus) to the cerebellum play a vital but enigmatic role in the regulation of movements. In the short to medium term a key aim of my work is to test and refine the hypothesis that these connections provide 'error signals' to the cerebellum during performance of both new and well-rehearsed movements.

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Activities / Findings

• Cerebro-ponto-cerebellar connections
• Discovery of novel Cerebro-cerebellar connections Read more >
• Role of the lateral cerebellum in visuomotor control
• Gating of transmission in olivocerebellar pathways
• We have demonstrated that cerebellar purkinje cells can generate an internal model of a moving external object Read more >
• The role of the PAG in regulating motor activity in conditions such as chronic pain Read more >

Teaching

• Department of Physiology:
  • Science 2 lectures (supraspinal motor control and cognition)
  • Science 3 (research seminars on cerebellar zonation)
• Dental course (lectures on reproduction, histology of muscle and CNS)

Keywords

• Inferior olive
• climbing fibre
• motor control
• cerebellar Purkinje cells

Skills

• Cerebellar ataxias
• olivocerebellar atrophy
• spinocerebellar ataxia

Processes and functions

• Locomotion
• reaching
• cognition
• defensive behaviours

Methodologies

• Neural axonal tract tracing combined with electyrophysiological recording (extracellular single unit and evoked field potentials)
• acute electrophysiological recording
• chronic recording methods in physiological models
• behavioural techniques

Memberships

Organisations

School of Physiology and Pharmacology

Other sites

• Neuroscience
• Phys-pharm

Links

•   home page

Selected publications

• Leith, J, Koutsikou, S, Lumb, B & Apps, R 2010, ‘Spinal processing of noxious and innocuous cold information: differential modulation by the periaqueductal gray’. Journal of Neuroscience, vol 30 (14)., pp. 4933 - 4942
• Cerminara, N, Koutsikou, S, Lumb, B & Apps, R 2009, ‘The periaqueductal grey modulates sensory input to the cerebellum: a role in coping behaviour?’. Eur J Neurosci, vol 29(11)., pp. 2197 - 2206
• Watson, T, Jones, M & Apps, R 2009, ‘Electrophysiological mapping of novel prefrontal-cerebellar pathways’. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience 3:18. (Epub), vol 3., pp. 18 - 29
• Pardoe, J, Edgley, S, Drew, T & Apps, R 2004, ‘Changes in excitability of ascending and descending inputs to cerebellar climbing fibers during locomotion’. Journal of Neuroscience, vol 24 (11)., pp. 2656 - 2666
• Voogd, J, Pardoe, J, Ruigrok, T & Apps, R 2003, ‘The distribution of climbing and mossy fibre collateral branches from the copula pyramidis and the paramedian lobule: congruence of climbing fiber cortical zones and the pattern of zebrin banding within the rat cerebellum’. Journal of Neuroscience, vol 23 (11)., pp. 4645 - 4656

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Recent publications

• Watson, TC, Koutsikou, S, Cerminara, NL, Flavell, CR, Crook, JJ, Lumb, BM & Apps, R 2013, ‘The olivo-cerebellar system and its relationship to survival circuits’. Frontiers in Neural Circuits, vol 7., pp. 72
• Perciavalle, V, Apps, R, Bracha, V, Delgado-García, JM, Gibson, AR, Leggio, M, Carrel, AJ, Cerminara, N, Coco, M, Gruart, A & Sánchez-Campusano, R 2013, ‘Consensus Paper: Current Views on the Role of Cerebellar Interpositus Nucleus in Movement Control and Emotion’. Cerebellum (London, England).
• Herrero, L, Pardoe, J, Cerminara, NL & Apps, R 2012, ‘Spatial localization and projection densities of brainstem mossy fibre afferents to the forelimb C1 zone of the rat cerebellum’. The European journal of neuroscience, vol 35., pp. 539-49
• Cerminara, NL & Apps, R 2011, ‘Behavioural significance of cerebellar modules’. Cerebellum (London, England), vol 10., pp. 484-94
• Wise, AK, Cerminara, NL, Marple-Horvat, DE & Apps, R 2010, ‘Mechanisms of synchronous activity in cerebellar Purkinje cells’. The Journal of Physiology, vol 588., pp. 2373-90

View complete publications list in the University of Bristol publications system

Networks & contacts

• Professor Bridget Lumb (Bristol)
• Dr Matt Jones (Bristol)
• Dr Steve Edgely (Cambridge)
• Professor Jan Voogd and Dr Tom Ruigrok (Rotterdam)
• Professor Jan Bjaalie (Oslo)
• Dr Martin Garwicz (Lund)
• Dr Luis Herrero (Seville)
• Dr Jordi Lllorens (Barcelona)