Title: Ito cells : A novel cerebellar interneuron implicated in motor learning

Abstract:

This talk will describe the discovery of Ito cells, a novel type of molecular layer interneuron in the cerebellum. Ito cells have a number of distinctive properties; their most important and unique characteristic is that they receive inhibitory feedback from Purkinje cells, the output neurons of the cerebellar cortex. In vivo recordings indicate that the activity of Ito cells progressively increases as Purkinje cell activity decreases during motor learning, with Purkinje cells usually leading Ito cells. Computer simulations indicate that the Purkinje-to-Ito cell feedback circuit may play a central role in cerebellar motor learning.

Speaker: Prof. George J. Augustine, Senior Investigator, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory