POSTER PRESENTATION Open Access Modelling cerebellar Purkinje cells with simple neuron models of the threshold type

The Purkinje cells of the cerebellum are responsible for processing the inputs necessary for coordinating movement. In the cerebellum, cells receive external input from only two sources, climbing fibres and mossy fibres [1]. Mossy fibres excite granule cells whose axons, called parallel fibres, enervate Purkinje cells. The integration of inputs from tens of thousands of individual parallel fibres synapti-cally connected to a single Purkinje cell causes it to emit a ‘simple spike ’ discharge. This is a single spike with the waveform of a typical action potential. In addition to simple spikes, cerebellar Purkinje cells can produce a second kind of electro-physiological response called a complex spike only after activation by climbing fibre inputs. The complex spike consists of an initial spik