The puzzle of ploidy of Purkinje neurons.

This paper places attention on the discrepancies existing in the literature on the ploidy of Purkinje neurons and focuses on the special case of partial replication of their genome and on the unequal frequency of polyploid Purkinje neurons in the cerebellar cortex of the lobes and the vermis. Owing to the compartmental structure of the cerebellum, this paper suggests the investigation with modern methods and techniques of other cerebellar regions such as the flocculus, with the aim of establishing whether increased ploidy correlates with cell hypertrophy and/or with stimulation of cerebellar functions.