Purkinje cells are a constant feature of the cerebellar cortex. Though often characterised by their complex dendritic branching, phylogenetically earlier Purkinje cells are much simpler structures. With studies of in vitro electrophysiological behaviour suggesting that firing patterns are very similar across species [1, 2, 3], what has informed such an expensive change in morphology and what effect has this change had on the cells ability to process and transfer information?

This talk will summarise my work in investigating these questions by modelling and analysing Purkinje cells from seven different species.

Date: 05/02/2016
Time: 16:00
Location: LB252

[1] Bloedel J.R. and Llinás R. (1969) Neuronal interactions in frog cerebellum, Journal of neurophysiology, 32(6):871-880
[2] Hounsgaard J. and Midtgaard J. (1988) Intrinsic determinants of firing pattern in Purkinje cells of the turtle cerebellum, The Journal of Physiology, 402(1):731-749
[3] Llinás R., Nicholson C., Freeman A., Hillman D.E. (1968) Dendritic spikes and their inhibition in alligator Purkinje cells, Science, 160(3832):1132-1135