Axon reflex activation of Deiters neurones from the cerebellar cortex through collaterals of the cerebellar afferents

Summary

When recording intracellularly from cat's Deiters neurones, stimulation of the anterior lobe of the cerebellar cortex produced excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) monosynaptically, in addition to the inhibitory ones (IPSPs) that were identified previously as being produced via Purkinje cell axons. The EPSPs were induced bilaterally from a wide area of the anterior and posterior lobes of the cerebellum, in contrast to the IPSPs that were evoked only ipsilaterally, mainly from the vermal cortex. The latency of the EPSPs was slightly, but significantly, shorter than that of the IPSPs. The presynaptic impulses responsible for these EPSPs were represented by the discrete field potentials and also by unit spikes of individual fibres. The pathway for these EPSPs and presynaptic impulses was pursued by testing their interference, in the manner of impulse collision and refractoriness, with those induced from various spots within or outside the cerebellum. It is found that the excitatory fibres for Deiters neurones extend transversely, and probably longitudinally too, over the culmen and pass out of the cerebellum through cerebellar peduncles. The major portion of them appears to originate from the medulla and a minority from the spinal cord. It is postulated that cerebellar afferents from these structures have synapses with Deiters neurones via their collateral branches, through which a kind of axon reflex occurs to Deiters neurones during stimulation of the cerebellar cortex.