Abstract
A major factor in determining the function of a particular cerebellar cortical region depends upon its afferent and efferent connections. Two distinct afferent pathways convey information to the cerebellar cortex: climbing fibers and mossy fibers. A large amount of fundamental knowledge about afferent projections to the cerebellum from various precerebellar nuclei has been accumulated using new anatomical methods, including knowledge about the axonal trajectories of single climbing fiber neurons in the inferior olive and single mossy fiber neurons of multiple sources. Knowledge about the morphologies of single mossy fiber neurons and climbing fiber neurons in the cerebellum is essential for understanding the function of the cerebellum. This chapter describes and compares the entire axonal trajectories of single olivocerebellar (OC) neurons, and single mossy fiber neurons in the lateral reticular nucleus, pontine nucleus, dorsal column nucleus and spinal cord in the cerebellar cortex and nucleus. Furthermore, this chapter will deal with the relationship between the longitudinal cortical and nuclear compartmentations revealed by aldolase C expression and the longitudinal bands of cortical and nuclear axonal terminals of single climbing fiber neurons and single mossy fiber neurons. We discuss the functional significance of these arrangements for the generation of the final output from the cerebellar nuclei which target extracerebellar structures for control of movement and other functions.
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This research was supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (KAKENHI 16 K070025).
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Shinoda, Y., Sugihara, I. (2020). Axonal Trajectories of Single Climbing and Mossy Fiber Neurons in the Cerebellar Cortex and Nucleus. In: Manto, M., Gruol, D., Schmahmann, J., Koibuchi, N., Sillitoe, R. (eds) Handbook of the Cerebellum and Cerebellar Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97911-3_20-3
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