A computer model of mammalian cerebellar cortex

A computer-simulated model of mammalian cerebellar cortex is described, in which the individual units correspond to 300 μm square regions of the cerebellar cortical sheet. Local properties of these units as well as their pattern of connectivity were derived from anatomical and physiological data. Selection of an appropriate set of parameters produced predicted neuronal firing patterns and excitability changes similar to those obtained from anesthetized cats.The role of Purkinje recurrent collaterals was investigated by varying the strength of Purkinje cell inhibitory coupling to Golgi and basket cells. It is shown that the recurrent collaterals may exert important effects upon the time course of Purkinje cell responses to parallel fiber inputs. For spatially-distributed mossy fiber inputs, a focusing effect of long time course is demonstrated.