Repetitive firing of cerebellar Purkinje cells in response to impulse in climbing fibre afferents.

The effects of climbing fibre (CF) impulses on the discharges of cerebellar cortical cells has been studied in the cat. It was found that a brief burst of impulses in a CF can evoke a prolonged excitatory response in the Purkinje (P) cell it innervates. The response consisted of a burst of action potentials that lasted from 50 to 400 msec in different P cells. Bursts of CF impulses were not observed to accelerate the discharge of granule cells. It is therefore suggested that this powerful response results from a direct action of CF impulses on the P cell.