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Functional Significance of the Basic Cerebellar Circuit in Motor Coordination

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Cerebellar Functions

Part of the book series: Proceedings in Life Sciences ((LIFE SCIENCES))

Abstract

Probably the most striking example of uniformity in the neuronal fabric of the brain is that present in the cerebellar cortex. Its connectivity and neuronal circuitry have an almost crystal-like structural organization. An example of the former is the precise distribution of the synaptic inputs onto the soma and dendrites of the cerebellar cortical neurons at the most superficial stratum, the molecular layer (cf. Palay and Chan-Palay 1974). At the neuronal circuit level the parallel fibers course in parallel to the cerebellar surface, the basket cell axons run orthogonally with respect to the direction of the parallel fibers, and all dendrites in the molecular layer run radially towards the surface of the cortex. This organization gives the cerebellar cortex a tridimensional matrix structure. As observed from the surface, the x axis is the direction of the parallel fibers, the y axis the direction of the basket cell axons, and the z axis the direction of the Purkinje cell dendrites (Ramón y Cajal 1911). In addition, since the descriptions by Ramón y Cajal (1888) it has been well known that the Purkinje cell dendrites are close to isoplanar and that the dendritic plane is oriented orthogonally with respect to the parallel fibers (Fig. 1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics, New York University Medical Center, 550 First Avenue, New York, 10016, USA

    R. Llinás

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  1. R. Llinás
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Barrow Neurological Institute St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, 350 West Thomas Rd., 85013, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

    James R. Bloedel

  2. Neurologische Klinik, Universität Tübingen, Liebermeisterstraße 18-20, 7400, Tübingen, Germany

    Johannes Dichgans

  3. Institut für Hirnforschung, Universität Zürich, August-Forel-Straße 1, CH-8029, Zürich, Switzerland

    Wolfgang Precht

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© 1984 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Llinás, R. (1984). Functional Significance of the Basic Cerebellar Circuit in Motor Coordination. In: Bloedel, J.R., Dichgans, J., Precht, W. (eds) Cerebellar Functions. Proceedings in Life Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69980-1_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69980-1_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-69982-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-69980-1

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