Electrophysiological study on the postnatal development of neuronal mechanisms in the rat cerebellar cortex.

(1) Functional commencements of the neuronal elements in the cerebellar cortex of young rats were studied electrophysiologically by means of laminar field potential analyses in the cortex on stimulation of the cerebellar surface (Loc) and the white matter (WM). (2) The antidromic action potential of Purkinje cells on the WM stimulation was observed at one day after birth. The climbing fiber excitation of Purkinje cells on the stimulation was noted at 3 days after birth. (3) The mossy fiber-granule cell synapses were found to function at 10 days after birth and the Golgi cell inhibition of granule cells could be proved at the same time. The excitatory action of parallel fibers and the inhibitory action of basket-stellate cells on Purkinje cells appeared simultaneously at about 12 days after birth. The transverse distribution across the cerebellar folium of the basket-stellate cell inhibitory action on Purkinje cells was found to be narrow up to 60 days after birth. (4) These results concerning the dates of commencement of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic actions in the cerebellar cortex were compared with those of synaptogenesis studied morphologically, and some implications of the dates in the functional development of the cerebellar cortex were discussed.