Cerebellar Cortex: Cytology and Organization

The origins of this book go back to the first electron microscopic studies of the central nervous system. The cerebellar cortex was from the first an object of close study in the electron microscope, repeating in modern cytology and neuroanatomy the role it had in the hands of RAMON y CAJAL at the end of the nineteenth century. The senior author vividly remembers a day early in 1953 when GEORGE PALADE, with whom he was then working, showed him an electron micrograph of a cerebellar glomerulus, saying "That is what the synapse should look like. " It is true that the tissue was swollen and the mitochondria were exploded, but all of the essentials of synaptic structure were visible. At that time small fragments of tissue, fixed by immersion in osmium tetroxide and embedded in methacrylate, were laboriously sectioned with glass knives without any predetermined orientation and then examined in the electron microscope. After much searching, favorably preserved areas' were studied at the cytological level in order to recognize the parts of neurons and characterize them. Such procedures, dependent upon random sections and uncontrollable selection by a highly erratic technique of preservation, precluded any systematic investigation of the organization of a particular nucleus or region of the central nervous system. It was difficult enough to distinguish neurons from the neuroglia.

Table of Contents:
I. Introduction.- 1. A New Morphology.- 2. The Fiber Connections of the Cerebellar Cortex.- 3. The Design of the Cerebellar Cortex.- II. The Purkinje Cell.- 1. A Little History.- 2. The Soma of the Purkinje Cell.- 3. The Nucleus.- 4. The Perikaryon of the Purkinje Cell.- 5. The Dendrites of the Purkinje Cell.- 6. The Purkinje Cell Axon.- 7. The Neuroglial Sheath.- 8. Some Physiological Considerations.- 9. Summary of Intracortical Synaptic Connections of Purkinje Cells.- III. Granule Cells.- 1. The Granule Cell in the Optical Microscope.- 2. The Granule Cell in the Electron Microscope.- 3. Summary of Synaptic Connections of Granule Cells.- IV. The Golgi Cells.- 1. A Little History.- 2. The Large Golgi Cell.- 3. The Small Goigi Cell.- 4. Summary of Synaptic Connections of Golgi Cells.- V. The Lugaro Cell.- 1. A Little History.- 2. The Lugaro Cell in the Light Microscope.- 3. Fine Structure of the Lugaro Cel.- 4. Summary of Synaptic Connections of Lugaro Cells.- VI. The Mossy Fibers.- 1. A Little History.- 2. The Mossy Fiber in the Light Microscope.- 3. The Glomerulus.- 4. The Identification of Different Kinds of Mossy Fibers.- 5. Summary of Intracortical Synaptic Connections of Mossy Fibers.- VII. The Basket Cell.- 1. A Little History.- 2. The Form of the Basket Cell and Its Processes.- 3. The Fine Structure of the Basket Cell.- 4. Summary of Synaptic Connections of Basket Cells.- VIII. The Stellate Cell.- 1. A Little History.- 2. The Stellate Cell in the Light Microscope.- 3. The Fine Structure of the Stellate Cell.- 4. Some Physiological Considerations.- 5. Summary of Synaptic Connections of Stellate Cells.- IX. Functional Architectonics without Numbers.- 1. The Uses of Inhibition.- 2. The Shapes of Synaptic Vesicles.- 3. A Hitherto Unrecognized Fiber System.- 4. The Inhibitory Transmitter.- X. The Climbing Fiber.- 1. A Little History.- 2. The Climbing Fiber in the Optical Microscope.- 3. The Climbing Fiber in the Electron Microscope.- 4. The Connections of the Climbing Fiber.- 5. Some Functional Correlations.- 6. Summary of Intracortical Synaptic Connections of Climbing Fibers.- XI. The Neuroglial Cells of the Cerebellar Cortex.- 1. The Golgi Epithelial Cells.- 2. The Velate Protoplasmic Astrocyte.- 3. The Smooth Protoplasmic Astrocyte.- 4. The Oligodendrogliocyte.- 5. The Microglia.- 6. Functional Correlations.- XII. Methods.- 1. Electron Microscopy.- 2. The Golgi Methods.- 3. High Voltage Electron Microscopy.- 4. Electron Microscopy of Freeze-Fractured Material.- References.