Neurons of the deep cerebellar nuclei

Abstract

The cerebellar nuclei (CN) are the final processing unit of the cerebellar circuitry, essentially combining most of cerebellar afferent inputs with the output of cerebellar cortex, transmitting the result of this integration to the extracerebellar targets, placing them at a key position in understanding cerebellar function on system level. Until recently, the nuclei have been treated as a simple relay nucleus with little neuronal diversity or computational capability. However, with the advent of genetically encoded fluorescent labels, the complexity and diversity of the CN neuronal circuits has started to become clear, rising doubts on the simplistic view of CN role in cerebellar computation. In this chapter, the currently known CN neuronal types - in all, four projecting neuron and two interneuron types - are described, and recommendations on their electrophysiological identification (in mouse slice preparation) are provided.