Abstract
Neurons in the inferior olive nucleus, the sole origin of cerebellar climbing fibers, project their axons to the cerebellum through the olivocerebellar tract. A single olivocerebellar axon gives rise to multiple climbing fibers (about seven in rats), which often terminate into a single longitudinal compartment defined by the cerebellar cortex’s longitudinal striped molecular expression pattern. According to an intriguing topographic relationship, axons originating from a subarea of the inferior olive project to a particular compartment. As a result of this topographic arrangement, the olivocerebellar projection relays synchronous activity of the electrically coupled adjacent inferior olive neurons to complex spike firing of Purkinje cells in a longitudinal compartment. Olivocerebellar axons show a dynamic morphogenetic process. An immature axon has abundant terminal branches that innervate many Purkinje cells. Several terminal branches (climbing fibers) grow to eventually establish a powerful one-to-one synaptic connection between a single climbing fiber terminal and a single target Purkinje cell. Furthermore, these axons are capable of strong compensatory re-innervation after lesion, even in the adult.
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Luo, Y., Sugihara, I. (2023). The Olivocerebellar Tract. 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_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15070-8_6
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