Identification of the Purkinje cell/climbing fiber zone and its target neurons responsible for eye-movement control by the cerebellar flocculus

Abstract

We identified 3 Purkinje cell/climbing fiber zones in the cat cerebellar flocculus. The zones were perpendicular to the long axes of the crooked floccular folia, forming the crooked zones. Each zone was different in axonal projection areas of its target neurons. From the neuronal networks it is theoretically expected that activity changes of a particular zone control eye movement in a particular plane: (1) the rostral and caudal zones on one side control movement in the anterior canal plane oh the side of the activity changes and those on both sides control movement in all vertical planes from sagittal to transverse planes; and (2) the middle zone controls movement in the horizontal plane by reciprocal activity changes on both sides. The zone-specific climbing fiber input to a particular zone may contribute to activity changes of the zone in response to mossy fiber input spreading across several zones. Electrical stimulation of each zone evoked the same pattern of eye movement as that theoretically expected from the neuronal networks. This is the first indication that there are indeed functional differences between the Purkinje cell zones in the cerebellum. Our findings support Oscarsson's proposal that each Purkinje cell/climbing fiber zone plus its target neurons may be an operational unit for control of a given motor function.