Cerebellar functions / by André-Thomas ; translated by W. Conyers Herring.

  • Thomas, André, 1867-1963.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Cerebellar functions / by André-Thomas ; translated by W. Conyers Herring. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    The figures i and 2 represent the superior and inferior sur- faces of the cerebellum in man. The nomenclature of the lobes and fissures is purely ana- tomical. The theory of cerebellar localization, which is of very recent date, does not up to the present repose upon a basis of facts sutBciently demonstrable. II. Histology of the Cerebellum In the solution of a physiological problem of this order one cannot omit a consideration'of the structure of the cerebellum and more particularly the knowledge that has been acquired of the connections which unite the nerve elements or different groups of cells one with another. The results obtained by stain- ing with silver chromate by- Golgi and Ramon y Cajal are of primary importance from this viewpoint (Figs. 4 and 5). Structure of the Cortex.—Each lobe of the cortex is divided into lobules and lamellae. The whole histology of the cortex is thus based upon that of a lamella. Each lamella is divided from the surface to the interior into: (i) the molecular layer; (2) the granular layer and (3) the white substance. The molecular layer is occupied by star-shaped cells of two kinds, large and small. The small cells, more superficial, have the form and properties of the majority of multipolar cells. The large cells for the most part lie deeper. The axis-cylinder of the large star-shaped cells is derived from the body of the cell and takes an antero-posterior direction; after a long course it ap- proaches a Purkinje cell around which it arborizes and forms a sort of basket or envelope (Kolliker), but before this it gives ofif at regular intervals collaterals which arborize in the same manner around other Purkinje cells. Each star-shaped cell of the molec- ular layer has thus, dependent upon it, a large number of Purkinje cells. At the limits of the molecular layer and the granular layer there are found a large number of the Purkinje cells: the largest in size of the elements of the cortex, and considered from the physiological point of view as playing the most active part. - The Purkinje cells are notable for their rich protoplasmic expansions which run through the whole thickness of the molec- ular layer. The body is voluminous and spherical or ovoid, it is continuous with one or two large protoplasmic arborizations upon