成長期の「噛む刺激」が運動機能の発達を支えるー軟らかい食事が小脳の神経活動の同期性を低下させることを発見ー

2026-09-11 東京科学大学

図1. 成長期の軟らかい食事が小脳の神経活動の同期性と運動・バランス機能に及ぼす影響。

＜関連情報＞

• https://www.isct.ac.jp/ja/news/2vs0ghfetcqg
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0361923026003655

幼若期の軟食給餌はマウスの小脳のタイミングを乱し、バランス感覚を損なう Juvenile soft-diet feeding disrupts cerebellar timing and impairs balance in mice

Mengke Liu, Nene Yamaguchi, Kyosuke Goda, Mariko Sekiguchi, Chiho Kato, Takashi Ono, Naofumi Uesaka
Brain Research Bulletin  Available online: 13 August 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresbull.2026.112078

Highlights

• Juvenile soft-diet feeding is associated with impaired motor coordination and balance in mice.
• Soft-diet feeding reduces Purkinje-cell synchrony in vermal lobules VI–VII.
• High-synchrony events are selectively reduced after early reduction of oral sensorimotor experience.
• Optogenetic stimulation of Purkinje cells rescues motor deficits.

Abstract

Sensorimotor experience shapes developing neural circuits. Whether diet texture-dependent oral sensorimotor experience influences cerebellar population activity, and if so in what way, remains unclear. Here we tested whether reducing oral sensorimotor experience by soft-diet feeding during the juvenile post-weaning period was associated with motor performance beyond mastication and with Purkinje-cell population activity in cerebellar vermis lobules VI–VII. Soft diet feeding from 3 to 6 weeks of age was associated with impaired rotarod performance and swimming postural balance, without a reduction in body-weight gain. In vivo one-photon calcium imaging from cerebellar lobules VI–VII revealed reduced synchrony of Purkinje-cell dendritic calcium transients, whereas individual calcium events were unchanged. Soft-diet feeding from 6 to 9 weeks produced milder and assay-dependent behavioral effects and did not reduce Purkinje-cell calcium synchrony in the same region. Fixed-frequency optogenetic activation of Purkinje cells improved motor performance in juvenile soft-diet mice. These findings suggest that reduced oral sensorimotor experience during the juvenile period is associated with altered cerebellar population timing and impaired balance control.