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Specification of Cerebellar Neurons

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Essentials of Cerebellum and Cerebellar Disorders

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Abstract

The cerebellum consists of about ten types of neurons that have distinct characteristics in terms of their location, morphology, immunoreactivity and physiology. They can be categorized into two groups; glutamatergic excitatory and GABAergic inhibitory neurons. Excitatory neurons are comprised of glutamatergic deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) neurons, granule cells and unipolar brush cells (UBCs). Inhibitory neurons include GABAergic DCN neurons, Purkinje cells, Golgi cells, Lugaro cells, basket cells, and stellate cells. GABAergic DCN neurons are interneurons that contribute to local circuitry and projection neurons that extend axons toward the inferior olivary nucleus. As all cerebellar GABAergic interneurons express Pax2 (Maricich and Herrup J Neurobiol 41:281–294, 1999), they are called Pax2+ interneurons (Pax2+ INs). Recent studies have partly uncovered the molecular machinery for neuronal subtype specification in the cerebellum.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of System Pathology for Neurological Disorders, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, Niigata-shi, Niigata, Japan

    Satoshi Miyashita

  2. Institute for Research Promotion, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan

    Satoshi Miyashita

  3. Department of Biochemistry and Cellular Biology, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan

    Mikio Hoshino

Authors
  1. Satoshi Miyashita
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  2. Mikio Hoshino
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Correspondence to Mikio Hoshino .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Department, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Donna L. Gruol

  2. Department of Integrative Physiology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Gunma, Japan

    Noriyuki Koibuchi

  3. Service de Neurologie, CHU-Charleroi, Charleroi, Belgium

    Mario Manto

  4. Clinical Translational Research, Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy

    Marco Molinari

  5. Ataxia Center, Cognitive Behavioral Neurology Unit, Laboratory for Neuroanatomy and Cerebellar Neurobiology, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Jeremy D. Schmahmann

  6. Department of Physiology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzho, China

    Ying Shen

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Miyashita, S., Hoshino, M. (2023). Specification of Cerebellar Neurons. In: Gruol, D.L., Koibuchi, N., Manto, M., Molinari, M., Schmahmann, J.D., Shen, Y. (eds) Essentials of Cerebellum and Cerebellar Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15070-8_15

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