A Functionally Important Feature of the Distribution of the Olivo–Cerebellar Climbing Fibers

1974 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 1212-1217 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Courville ◽  
F. Faraco-Cantin ◽  
N. Diakiw
Keyword(s):  
Cerebellar Cortex ◽  
Central Region ◽  
Inferior Olive ◽  
Molecular Layer ◽  
Climbing Fibers ◽  
Striking Feature ◽  
Contralateral Projection

The olivo–cerebellar projection has been demonstrated by injections of small volumes of tritiated l-leucine in the inferior olive. A strictly contralateral projection to the cerebellar cortex has been found. Labelling of terminal fibers in the molecular layer is restricted to the paravermian and lateral regions of cortex after an injection of the central region of the olive. The distribution presents a very striking feature: the label is distributed along sagittal bands about 0.4 mm wide interrupted by empty spaces of the same width. It is suggested that an extra-olivary source provides the climbing fibers distributed in these spaces.

scholarly journals Stereotyped spatial patterns of functional synaptic connectivity in the cerebellar cortex

eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine M Valera ◽  
Francesca Binda ◽  
Sophie A Pawlowski ◽  
Jean-Luc Dupont ◽  
Jean-François Casella ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Purkinje Cells ◽  
Cerebellar Cortex ◽  
Granule Cell ◽  
Motor Coordination ◽  
Molecular Layer ◽  
Granule Cell Layer ◽  
Synaptic Organization ◽  
Cerebellar Modules ◽  
Activity Dependent

Motor coordination is supported by an array of highly organized heterogeneous modules in the cerebellum. How incoming sensorimotor information is channeled and communicated between these anatomical modules is still poorly understood. In this study, we used transgenic mice expressing GFP in specific subsets of Purkinje cells that allowed us to target a given set of cerebellar modules. Combining in vitro recordings and photostimulation, we identified stereotyped patterns of functional synaptic organization between the granule cell layer and its main targets, the Purkinje cells, Golgi cells and molecular layer interneurons. Each type of connection displayed position-specific patterns of granule cell synaptic inputs that do not strictly match with anatomical boundaries but connect distant cortical modules. Although these patterns can be adjusted by activity-dependent processes, they were found to be consistent and predictable between animals. Our results highlight the operational rules underlying communication between modules in the cerebellar cortex.

Feedforward Inhibition Controls the Spread of Granule Cell–Induced Purkinje Cell Activity in the Cerebellar Cortex

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 248-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fidel Santamaria ◽  
Patrick G. Tripp ◽  
James M. Bower
Keyword(s):  
Cerebellar Cortex ◽  
Granule Cells ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Cerebellar Granule Cells ◽  
Molecular Layer ◽  
Cell Activity ◽  
Excitatory Input ◽  
Cortical Inhibition ◽  
Before And After

Synapses associated with the parallel fiber (pf) axons of cerebellar granule cells constitute the largest excitatory input onto Purkinje cells (PCs). Although most theories of cerebellar function assume these synapses produce an excitatory sequential “beamlike” activation of PCs, numerous physiological studies have failed to find such beams. Using a computer model of the cerebellar cortex we predicted that the lack of PCs beams is explained by the concomitant pf activation of feedforward molecular layer inhibition. This prediction was tested, in vivo, by recording PCs sharing a common set of pfs before and after pharmacologically blocking inhibitory inputs. As predicted by the model, pf-induced beams of excitatory PC responses were seen only when inhibition was blocked. Blocking inhibition did not have a significant effect in the excitability of the cerebellar cortex. We conclude that pfs work in concert with feedforward cortical inhibition to regulate the excitability of the PC dendrite without directly influencing PC spiking output. This conclusion requires a significant reassessment of classical interpretations of the functional organization of the cerebellar cortex.

Motor Coding in Floccular Climbing Fibers

2006 ◽  
Vol 95 (4) ◽  
pp. 2342-2351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beerend Winkelman ◽  
Maarten Frens
Keyword(s):  
Visual Motion ◽  
Inferior Olive ◽  
Motor Behavior ◽  
Climbing Fibers ◽  
Retinal Slip ◽  
Motor Component ◽  
Prepositus Hypoglossi ◽  
Sensorimotor Information ◽  
Sensory Encoding ◽  
Oculomotor Learning

The climbing fibers (CFs) that project from the dorsal cap of the inferior olive (IO) to the flocculus of the cerebellar cortex have been reported to be purely sensory, encoding “retinal slip.” However, a clear oculomotor projection from the nucleus prepositus hypoglossi (NPH) to the IO has been shown. We therefore studied the sensorimotor information that is present in the CF signal. We presented rabbits with visual motion noise stimuli to break up the tight relation between instantaneous retinal slip and eye movement. Strikingly, the information about the motor behavior in the CF signal more than doubled that of the sensory component and was time-locked more tightly. The contribution of oculomotor signals was independently confirmed by analysis of spontaneous eye movements in the absence of visual input. The motor component of the CF code is essential to distinguish unexpected slip from self-generated slip, which is a prerequisite for proper oculomotor learning.

Cerebellar Grafts Partially Reverse Amino Acid Receptor Changes Observed in the Cerebellum of Mice with Hereditary Ataxia: Quantitative Autoradiographic Studies

1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-359
Author(s):  
Kalliope Stasi ◽  
Adamantia Mitsacos ◽  
Lazaros C. Triarhou ◽  
Elias D. Kouvelas
Keyword(s):  
Nmda Receptors ◽  
Cerebellar Cortex ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Molecular Layer ◽  
Cerebellar Nuclei ◽  
Granule Cell Layer ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Hereditary Ataxia ◽  
Deep Cerebellar Nuclei ◽  
Muscimol Binding

We used quantitative autoradiography of [3H]CNQX (200 nM), [3H]muscimol (13 nM), and [3H]flunitrazepam (10 nM) binding to study the distribution of non-NMDA and GABAA receptors in the cerebellum of pcd mutant mice with unilateral cerebellar grafts. Nonspecific binding was determined by incubation with 1 mM Glu, 200 μM GABA, or 1 μM clonazepam, respectively. Saturation parameters were defined in wild-type and mutant cerebella. In mutants, non-NMDA receptors were reduced by 38% in the molecular layer and by 47% in the granule cell layer. The reduction of non-NMDA receptors in the pcd cerebellar cortex supports their localization on Purkinje cells. [3H] CNQX binding sites were visualized at higher density in grafts that had migrated to the cerebellar cortex of the hosts (4.1 and 11.0 pmol/mg protein, respectively, at 23 and 37 days after grafting) than in grafts arrested intraparen-chymally (2.6 and 6.2 pmol/mg protein, respectively, at 23 and 37 days after grafting). The pattern of expression of non-NMDA receptors in cortical vs. parenchymal grafts suggests a possible regulation of their levels by transacting elements from host parallel fibers. GABAA binding levels in the grafts for both ligands used were similar to normal molecular layer. Binding was increased in the deep cerebellar nuclei of pcd mutants: the increase in [3H]muscimol binding over normal was 215% and the increase in [3H]flunitrazepam binding was 89%. Such increases in the pcd deep cerebellar nuclei may reflect a denervation-induced supersensitivity subsequent to the loss of Purkinje axon terminal innervation. In the deep nuclei of pcd mutants with unilateral cerebellar grafts, [3H]muscimol binding was 31% lower in the grafted side than in the contralateral nongrafted side at 37 days after transplantation; [3H]fluni-trazepam binding was also lower in the grafted side by 15% compared to the nongrafted side. Such changes in GABAA receptors suggest a significant, albeit partial, normalizing trend of cerebellar grafts on the state of postsynaptic supersensitive receptors in the host cerebellar nuclei.

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