The contribution of Purkinje cells to cerebellar motor coordination and learning is determined in part by the chronic and acute effects of climbing fiber (CF) afferents. Whereas the chronic effects of CF discharge, such as the depression of conjunctive parallel fiber (PF) inputs, are well established, the acute cellular functions of CF discharge remain incompletely understood. In rat cerebellar...

stract-Regional differences in the restitution of action tential duration may be arrhythmogenic. Though such a fference exists at the Purkinje-ventricular interface, restitution netics have not yet been defined between coupled Purkinje and ntricular cells. Thus, the purpose of this study was to termine the effects of coupling on restitution in Purkinje and ntricular cells. DiFrancesco-Noble and...

Evidence from both anatomical and physiological studies suggests that the ascending segment of the granule cell axon provides a large, driving input to overlying Purkinje cells. In the current experiments we used dual recording electrodes to simultaneously record spike activity of Purkinje cells and multiunit field potential activity in the directly underlying granule cell layer. These dual rec...

Conflicting evidence exists concerning the activity of NMDA receptors (NMDARs) in cerebellar Purkinje cells and their possible functions. To investigate the activity of NMDARS, we used whole-cell recording on immunocytochemically identified Purkinje cells in primary culture. In addition, we used mice with a disrupted NMDAR1 gene that lack functional NMDARs (NR1-/-) to assess the physiological r...

Evidence from both anatomical and physiological studies suggests that the ascending segment of the granule cell axon provides a large, driving input to overlying Purkinje cells. In the current experiments, we used dual recording electrodes to simultaneously record spike activity of Purkinje cells and multiunit field potential activity in the directly underlying granule cell layer. These dual re...

Information is carried out of the cerebellar cortical microcircuit via action potentials propagated along Purkinje cell axons. In several human neurodegenerative diseases, focal axonal swellings on Purkinje cells - known as torpedoes - have been associated with Purkinje cell loss. Interestingly, torpedoes are also reported to appear transiently during development in rat cerebellum. The function...

SCA1, a fatal neurodegenerative disorder, is caused by a CAG expansion encoding a polyglutamine stretch in the protein ATXN1. We used RNA sequencing to profile cerebellar gene expression in Pcp2-ATXN1[82Q] mice with ataxia and progressive pathology and Pcp2-ATXN1[30Q]D776 animals having ataxia in absence of Purkinje cell progressive pathology. Weighted Gene Coexpression Network Analysis of the ...

Cerebellar ataxia commonly occurs in multiple sclerosis, particularly in chronic progressive disease. Previous reports have highlighted both white matter and grey matter pathological changes within the cerebellum; and demyelination and inflammatory cell infiltrates appear commonly. As Purkinje cell axons are the sole output of the cerebellar cortex, understanding pathologic processes within the...

Neurophysiological recordings in the cerebellar cortex of awake-behaving animals are revolutionizing the way we think about the role of Purkinje cells in sensori-motor calibration. Early theorists suggested that if a movement became miscalibrated, Purkinje cell output would be changed to adjust the motor command and restore good performance. The finding that Purkinje cell activity changed in ma...

Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration accompanying gynecological and breast cancers is characteristically accompanied by a serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) antibody response, termed "anti-Yo," which reacts with cytoplasmic proteins of cerebellar Purkinje cells. Because these antibodies interact with cytoplasmic rather than cell surface membrane proteins, their role in causing Purkinje cell ...