Climbing fiber multi-innervation of mouse Purkinje dendrites with arborization common to human

Abstract

AbstractCanonically, each Purkinje cell in the adult cerebellum receives only one climbing fiber from the inferior olive. Underlying current theories of cerebellar function is the notion that this highly conserved one-to-one relationship renders Purkinje dendrites into a single computational compartment. However, we show that multiple primary dendrites are a near-universal morphological feature in human. Using tract-tracing, immunolabeling, andin vitroelectrophysiology, we demonstrate in mice that ∼25% of mature polydendritic cells receive more than one climbing fiber input. Two-photon calcium imagingin vivoreveals that separate dendrites can exhibit distinct response properties to sensory stimulation, indicating some polydendritic cells integrate functionally independent climbing fiber receptive fields. These findings reveal that Purkinje cells are morphologically and functionally more diverse than previously thought.