The origin of cerebellar-induced inhibition of Deiters neurones II. Temporal correlation between the trans-synaptic activation of Purkinje cells and the inhibition of Deiters neurones

Summary

Intracellular recording with microelectrodes has been employed to reveal the causal relationship between the trans-synaptic activation of cerebellar Purkinje cells and the postsynaptic inhibition of Deiters neurones. Cerebellar stimulation produced in Deiters neurones not only monosynaptic IPSPs with latency of 0.9–1.5 msec, but also the delayed IPSPs at 1.5–9 msec. Correspondng to the latter, Purkinje cells were found to be activated orthodromically with the characteristic climbing fibre responses (CFRs), the latency varying from 0.8 up to 10 msec. On the other hand, stimulation of the inferior olive first induced EPSPs in Deiters neurones, presumably monosynaptically, then with a short delay of less than a millisecond CRFs in Purkinje cells of the anterior lobe, which in turn were succeeded by IPSPs in Deiters neurones after a further delay of a millisecond. Spinal stimulation activated the inferior olive trans-synaptically and thereby produced CFRs in Purkinje cells and a sequence of EPSPs and IPSPs in Deiters neurones. Close correlation between these spinal-induced events in both neurone species was further indicated by the concurrence of their fluctuations in intensity, these fluctuations being characteristic of the spino-olivary transmission mechanism. These results strongly support the postulate that the cerebellar Purkinje cells are inhibitory in their action upon Deiters neurones.