Basket cells are inhibitory

GABAergic In molecular biology and physiology, something is GABAergic or GABAnergic if it pertains to or affects the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). For example, a synapse is GABAergic if it uses GABA as its neurotransmitter, and a GABAergic ...

interneuron Interneurons (also called internuncial neurons, association neurons, connector neurons, or intermediate neurons) are neurons that are not specifically motor neurons or sensory neurons. Interneurons are the central nodes of neural circuits, enab ...

s of the

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

, found throughout different regions of the

cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...

and

cerebellum The cerebellum (: cerebella or cerebellums; Latin for 'little brain') is a major feature of the hindbrain of all vertebrates. Although usually smaller than the cerebrum, in some animals such as the mormyrid fishes it may be as large as it or eve ...

Anatomy and physiology

Basket cells are multipolar GABAergic interneurons that function to make inhibitory synapses and control the overall potentials of target cells. In general, dendrites of basket cells are free branching, contain smooth spines, and extend from 3 to 9 mm. Axons are highly branched, ranging in total from 20 to 50mm in total length. The branched axonal arborizations give rise to the name as they appear as baskets surrounding the soma of the target cell. Basket cells form axo-somatic synapses, meaning their synapses target somas of other cells. By controlling the somas of other neurons, basket cells can directly control the action potential discharge rate of target cells. Basket cells can be found throughout the brain, in among other the cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, basal ganglia, and the cerebellum.

Cortex

In the cortex, basket cells have sparsely branched axons giving off small pericellular, basket-shaped elaborations at several intervals along their length. Basket cells make up 5-10% of total neurons in the cortex. There are three types of basket cells in the cortex, the small, large and nest type: The axon of a small basket cell arborizes in the vicinity of that same cell's dendritic range, this axon is short. In contrast, large basket cells innervate somata in different cortical columns due to a long axon. The nest basket cells are an intermediate form of the small and large cells, their axons are confined mainly to the same cortical layer as their somata. Nest basket cells have "radiating axonal collaterals" between that of large and small basket cells. They are included as basket cells because they are interneurons that perform axo-somatic synapses.

Hippocampus

Hippocampal basket cells target somata and proximal

dendrite A dendrite (from Ancient Greek language, Greek δένδρον ''déndron'', "tree") or dendron is a branched cytoplasmic process that extends from a nerve cell that propagates the neurotransmission, electrochemical stimulation received from oth ...

s of

pyramidal neuron Pyramidal cells, or pyramidal neurons, are a type of multipolar neuron found in areas of the brain including the cerebral cortex, the hippocampus, and the amygdala. Pyramidal cells are the primary excitation units of the mammalian prefrontal cort ...

s. Similar to their counterparts in the cortex, hippocampal basket cells are also

parvalbumin Parvalbumin (PV) is a calcium-binding protein with low molecular weight (typically 9–11 kDa). In humans, it is encoded by the ''PVALB'' gene. It is a member of the albumin family; it is named for its size (''parv-'', from Latin ' which means " ...

-expressing and fast- spiking. In the CA3 region of the hippocampus, basket cells can often form recurrent inhibition loops with pyramidal cells. Projections from a pyramidal cell will innervate the basket cell, which in turn has a projection back onto the original pyramidal cells. Since basket cells are inhibitory, this generates a closed loop that can help dampen excitatory responses.

Cerebellum

In the cerebellum, the multipolar basket cells have branching

s, which are dilated and knotty. Basket cells synapse on the cell bodies of

Purkinje cell Purkinje cells or Purkinje neurons, named for Czech physiologist Jan Evangelista Purkyně who identified them in 1837, are a unique type of prominent, large neuron located in the Cerebellum, cerebellar Cortex (anatomy), cortex of the brain. Wi ...

s and make inhibitory synapses with Purkinje cells. Cerebellar basket cell axons fire inhibitory neurotransmitters such as GABA to Purkinje cell axons, and inhibits the Purkinje cell. Purkinje cells send inhibitory messages to the deep cerebellar nuclei and are responsible for the sole output of motor coordination from the cerebellar cortex. With the work of the basket cell, Purkinje cells do not send the inhibitory response for motor coordination and motor movement occurs.

Additional images

Image:Diagram of the Microanatomy of Human Cerebellar Cortex.svg, Microcircuitry of the cerebellum.

Excitatory synapses An excitatory synapse is a synapse in which an action potential in a presynaptic neuron increases the probability of an action potential occurring in a postsynaptic cell. Neurons form networks through which nerve impulses travels, each neuron of ...

are denoted by (+) and inhibitory synapses by (-). Basket cell labeled ''BC''. Image:Cerebellum - biel - high mag.jpg, Cerebellum

External links

Cell Centered Database - Cerebellar basket cell

NIF Search - Basket Cell
via the

Neuroscience Information Framework The Neuroscience Information Framework is a repository of global neuroscience web resources, including experimental, clinical, and translational neuroscience databases, knowledge bases, atlases, and genetic/ genomic resources and provides many aut ...

References

{{Cerebellum Neurons Central nervous system neurons