Symposia/Workshop programme

Information processing in the cerebellar cortical 'Neuronal Machine'

Synopsis

Organised by

Steve Edgley (University of Cambridge, UK) and Richard Apps (University of Bristol, UK)

Location

TBC

8.50	Welcome and Introduction Steve A Edgley & Richard Apps
9.00	Boris Barbour (CNRS, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris) Glutamate spillover signalling by the climbing fibre
9.30	Troy W Margrie (UCL, London) The synaptic representation on self motion in the cerebellar granule cell layer
10.00	Henrik Jorntell (Lund, Sweden) Parallel information processing in cerebellar cortical circuitry
10.30	Coffee
11.00	John I Simpson (New York University) Cerebellar Granule Cells: Tales from the Most Numerous Neurons in the Brain
11.30	Nadia L Cerminara (University of Bristol) Does Purkinje cell activity in the lateral cerebellum reflect predictive visuo-motor control?

Synopsis

Of all parts of the brain the cerebellar cortex is the best understood in terms of its structure and organisation. Just 5 principal cell types make up this structure, each type defined by morphology and the types of connections it makes. Central to the neural circuit is the Purkinje cell, the only output cell of the cortex and a cell which has an iconic huge, but planar dendritic tree. The orderly arrangement of the neurons and fibres in the cerebellum has led to it being considered to be a 'neuronal machine'. Although the main parts of this 'neuronal machine' have been known for some time, little information has been available on how it transforms its inputs into Purkinje cell outputs. Substantial recent progress has been made on this issue, driven largely by an improved understanding of the synaptic and cellular properties of neurons in the circuit. This symposium addresses this topical issue. It is timely because recent technological advances (e.g. in vivo whole cell recording, extracellular analysis of identified neurons) and findings from in vitro studies have thrown new light on the cerebellar processing function, with some surprising findings that may force revisions of the long held views of how the connections operate. These are not only of interest to cerebellar aficionados, but will have broader relevance for anyone with an interest in neural circuit function. The symposium is aimed at a broad audience from the sensorimotor, somatosensory and cellular neurophysiology special interest groups.

Symposia Location Key

LT 1	Babbage Lecture Theatre	(New Museums Site)
LT 2	Cockcroft Lecture Theatre	(New Museums Site)
LT 3	Main Physiology Lecture Theatre	(Downing Site)
LT 4	Main Anatomy Lecture Theatre	(Downing Site)
LT 5	Biffin Lecture Theatre	(Downing Site)
LT 6	Physiology Lecture Theatre 3	(Downing Site)
LT 7	Arts School Room B	(New Museums Site)
LT 8	Arts School Room C	(New Museums Site)