Activity of Purkinje and basket cells in chronically isolated cerebellar folia

Abstract

Electrical activity of Purkinje and basket cells in cerebellar folia neurologically isolated from adjacent folia for as long as 2 months was studied. Purkinje cells showed a considerable amount of spontaneous activity throughout this period despite the loss of all climbing and mossy fibers, and their activity could be increased by electrical stimulation. Similar spontaneous activity was not seen in basket cells, although basket-cell inhibition of Purkinje cells was observed frequently. In some isolated folia this inhibition lasted as long as 3 min. Folia-to-folia effects transmitted by Purkinje cell collaterals were demonstrated. These effects consisted of both long and short term inhibition of Purkinje cell activity, although usually this inhibition was not as prolonged as that induced by parallel-fiber stimulation in the same folium. Several functional differences are given between cerebellar “slabs” and cerebral “slabs.”