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| Microcircuitry of the cerebellum. Excitatory synapses are denoted by (+) and inhibitory synapses by (-). MF: Mossy fiber. DCN: Deep cerebellar nuclei. IO: Inferior olive. CF: Climbing fiber. GC: Granule cell. PF: Parallel fiber. PC: Purkinje cell. GgC: Golgi cell. SC: Stellate cell. BC: Basket cell. |
Parallel fibers arise from granule cells in the cerebellar cortex. They form synapses onto the dendrites of Purkinje cells (the output neurons of the cerebellum).
Granule cells are very small and very numerous. They are thought to make up as many as half of the neurons in the brain. Granule cells have axons which rise up and then branch out into parallel fibers. These fibers intersect the Purkinje cell dendrites.[1]
References
- ^ Bear, Mark F.; Michael A. Paradiso (2006) (Digitised online by Google Books). Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 773. ISBN 0781760038, 9780781760034. http://books.google.com/books?id=75NgwLzueikC&printsec=frontcover&dq=neuroscience+exploring+the+brain. Retrieved 2008-12-25. Image of Parallel fiber
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