ABSTRACT First Person is a series of interviews with the first authors selection papers published in Journal Cell Science, helping researchers promote themselves alongside their papers. Felicity Sterling author on ‘ StARD9 novel lysosomal kinesin required for membrane tubulation, cholesterol transport and Purkinje cell survival’, JCS. conducted research described this article while PhD student ...

The extensive migration of granule cells and the parasagittal organization of Purkinje cells are two prominent features of cerebellar development. Using granule cell markers, we observed that the inward migration of a subset of granule cells occurs in streams that appear to be restricted to specific areas in the developing chick cerebellum. These streams are organized into a stereotypical serie...

The vestibuloocular reflex (VOR) is under adaptive control to stabilize our vision during head movements. It has been suggested that the acute VOR motor learning requires long-term depression (LTD) and potentiation (LTP) at the parallel fiber – Purkinje cell synapses in the cerebellar flocculus. We simulated the VOR motor learning basing upon the LTD and LTP using a realistic cerebellar cortica...

Calbindin is a fast Ca2+-binding protein expressed by Purkinje cells and involved in their firing regulation. Its deletion produced approximately 160-Hz oscillation sustained by synchronous, rhythmic Purkinje cells in the cerebellar cortex of mice. Parvalbumin is a slow-onset Ca2+-binding protein expressed in Purkinje cells and interneurons. In order to assess its function in Purkinje cell firi...

conclusions considering that neuronal function highly depends on environmental conditions, any adverse alteration may affect the function and morphology of neurons. in this regard, our results showed the adverse effects of protein malnutrition on the morphology of the purkinje cells of cerebellum. results the low-protein group did not gain weight as much as control group (p < 0.05). the diamete...

Purkinje neurons play an important role in cerebellar computation since their axons are the only projection from the cerebellar cortex to deeper cerebellar structures. They have complex internal dynamics, which allow them to fire spontaneously, display bistability, and also to be involved in network phenomena such as high frequency oscillations and travelling waves. Purkinje cells exhibit type ...

Cerebellar Purkinje cells display complex intrinsic dynamics. They fire spontaneously, exhibit bistability, and via mutual network interactions are involved in the generation of high frequency oscillations and travelling waves of activity. To probe the dynamical properties of Purkinje cells we measured their phase response curves (PRCs). PRCs quantify the change in spike phase caused by a stimu...

It has been known for a long time that GABAergic Purkinje cells in the cerebellar cortex, as well as their target neurons in the cerebellar nuclei, are spontaneously active. The cerebellar output will, therefore, depend on how input is integrated into this spontaneous activity. It has been shown that input from climbing fibers originating in the inferior olive controls the spontaneous activity ...

Reciprocal activity between populations of neurons has been widely observed in the brain and is essential for neuronal computation. The different mechanisms by which reciprocal neuronal activity is generated remain to be established. A common motif in neuronal circuits is the presence of afferents that provide excitation to one set of principal neurons and, via interneurons, inhibition to a sec...