Cerebellar on-beam and lateral inhibition: Two functionally distinct circuits

Optical imaging of voltage-sensitive dyes in an isolated cerebellum preparation was used to study the spatiotemporal functional organization of the inhibitory systems in the cerebellar cortex. Responses to surface stimulation of the cortex reveal two physiologically distinct inhibitory systems, which we refer to as lateral and on-beam inhibition following classical terminology. Lateral inhibition occurs throughout the area responding to a stimulus, whereas on-beam inhibition is confined to the area directly excited by parallel fibers. The time course of the lateral inhibition is twice as long as that of the on-beam inhibition. Both inhibitory responses increase with stimulus intensity, but the lateral inhibition has a lower threshold, and it saturates at lower stimulus intensity. The amplitude of the on-beam inhibition is linearly related to the excitation at the same location, whereas that of the lateral inhibition is linearly related to the excitation at the center of the beam. Repetitive stimulation is required to activate on-beam inhibition, whereas the same stimulus paradigm reveals prolonged depression of the lateral inhibition. We conclude that lateral inhibition reflects the activation of molecular layer interneurons, and its major role is to increase the excitability of the activated area by disinhibition. The on-beam inhibition most likely reflects Golgi cell inhibition of granule cells. However, Purkinje cell collateral inhibition of Golgi cells cannot be excluded. Both possibilities suggest that the role of the on-beam inhibition is to efficiently modulate, in time and space, the mossy fiber input to the cerebellar cortex.