Question:medium
Identify the cell type marked in the cerebellum.
Identify the cell type marked in the cerebellum.
Show Hint
Look for a single row of large flask-shaped neurons with a fan-like dendritic tree.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Basket cells
- Granule cells
- Golgi cells
- Purkinje cells
Show Solution
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
Layer-by-layer approach: the cerebellar cortex has three layers, the outer molecular layer, the middle single-cell Purkinje layer, and the inner granular layer. The marked neurons form that one-cell-thick middle row of large pear-shaped bodies, which identifies them as Purkinje cells.
Functional anchor: Purkinje cells are the only output neurons of the cerebellar cortex and they are inhibitory (GABAergic), projecting to the deep cerebellar nuclei. Their massive dendritic fan spreads in the molecular layer to sample thousands of parallel fibres. Contrast with granule cells, the smallest and most numerous neurons crammed into the granular layer whose axons become the parallel fibres, and with basket and Golgi interneurons, which are scattered rather than lined up. The image clearly shows the Purkinje cell row.
Ref: NCBI Bookshelf NBK10865.
Functional anchor: Purkinje cells are the only output neurons of the cerebellar cortex and they are inhibitory (GABAergic), projecting to the deep cerebellar nuclei. Their massive dendritic fan spreads in the molecular layer to sample thousands of parallel fibres. Contrast with granule cells, the smallest and most numerous neurons crammed into the granular layer whose axons become the parallel fibres, and with basket and Golgi interneurons, which are scattered rather than lined up. The image clearly shows the Purkinje cell row.
Ref: NCBI Bookshelf NBK10865.
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