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The Journal of Neuroscience, May 10, 2006, 26(19):5153-5159; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4121-05.2006

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Cellular/Molecular
Differential Susceptibility to Synaptic Plasticity Reveals a Functional Specialization of Ascending Axon and Parallel Fiber Synapses to Cerebellar Purkinje Cells

Robert E. Sims and Nicholas A. Hartell

Department of Pharmacology, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, London WC1N 1AX, United Kingdom

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Nicholas A. Hartell, Department of Pharmacology, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1AX, UK. Email: nicholas.hartell{at}pharmacy.ac.uk

Granule cell axons, via their parallel fibers, form synapses with Purkinje cells across large areas of the cerebellar cortex. Evidence for uniform transmission along parallel fibers to Purkinje cells is controversial, however, leading to speculation that the ascending axonal segment plays a dominant role in cerebellar processing. We have compared the relative susceptibilities of ascending axon and parallel fiber synaptic inputs to several forms of synaptic plasticity. We demonstrate that ascending axon synapses have a limited capability to undergo forms of long-term depression and potentiation compared with parallel fiber synapses. These results demonstrate that these two segments of the same axon play fundamentally different roles in cerebellar signaling, and, as such, the synapses formed between granule cells and Purkinje cells should not be treated as a homogenous population.

Key words: cerebellum; long-term depression; long-term potentiation; synaptic transmission; granule cell; Purkinje cell

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Received Sept. 28, 2005; revised March 15, 2006; accepted March 15, 2006.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Nicholas A. Hartell, Department of Pharmacology, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1AX, UK. Email: nicholas.hartell{at}pharmacy.ac.uk

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