Cartwheel cells are

neuron A neuron, neurone, or nerve cell is an electrically excitable cell that communicates with other cells via specialized connections called synapses. The neuron is the main component of nervous tissue in all animals except sponges and placozoa. ...

s of the

dorsal cochlear nucleus The dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN, also known as the "tuberculum acusticum"), is a cortex-like structure on the dorso-lateral surface of the brainstem. Along with the ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN), it forms the cochlear nucleus (CN), where all a ...

(DCN) where they greatly outnumber the other inhibitory interneurons of the DCN. Their

soma Soma may refer to: Businesses and brands * SOMA (architects), a New York–based firm of architects * Soma (company), a company that designs eco-friendly water filtration systems * SOMA Fabrications, a builder of bicycle frames and other bicycle ...

s lie on the superficial side of the

pyramidal layer A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilater ...

of the DCN, and their

dendrite Dendrites (from Greek δένδρον ''déndron'', "tree"), also dendrons, are branched protoplasmic extensions of a nerve cell that propagate the electrochemical stimulation received from other neural cells to the cell body, or soma, of the ...

s receive input from the parallel fibres of the

granule cell A granule is a large particle or grain. It can refer to: * Granule (cell biology), any of several submicroscopic structures, some with explicable origins, others noted only as cell type-specific features of unknown function ** Azurophilic granul ...

layer. Their

axon An axon (from Greek ἄξων ''áxōn'', axis), or nerve fiber (or nerve fibre: see spelling differences), is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, in vertebrates, that typically conducts electrical impulses known as action p ...

s do not extend beyond the dorsal cochlear nucleus but synapse with other cartwheel cells and pyramidal cells within the DCN releasing GABA and

glycine Glycine (symbol Gly or G; ) is an amino acid that has a single hydrogen atom as its side chain. It is the simplest stable amino acid ( carbamic acid is unstable), with the chemical formula NH2‐ CH2‐ COOH. Glycine is one of the proteinog ...

onto their targets. Cartwheel cells have similar spiking patterns to

Purkinje cell Purkinje cells, or Purkinje neurons, are a class of GABAergic inhibitory neurons located in the cerebellum. They are named after their discoverer, Czech anatomist Jan Evangelista Purkyně, who characterized the cells in 1839. Structure T ...

s, firing complex spike bursts as well as simple spikes. They are also seen to share other features common to the

cerebellar The cerebellum (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 or even larger. In humans, the cereb ...

Purkinje cells. Other data supports the structural and functional similarity found between the cartwheel and the Purkinje neuron. Cartwheel cells are shown to have a high density of spines on their dendrites, their axons are myelinated, they are of spherical cell shape and of medium size. The primary targets of the cartwheel cells are the large efferent pyramidal neurons of the DCN, found in layer two. Data retrieved has shown that this targeting of the pyramidal cells modulates their activity and therefore plays a key role in the shaping of the overall output of the superficial layers of the dorsal cochlear nucleus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartwheel cell Neurons Central nervous system neurons