[Synapses with a different synaptic contact structure in the cerebellar cortex]

The ultrastructure of cerebellar axosomatic (inhibitory) and axo-dendritic (excitatory) synapses were studied on the Purkinje cells and in the lower molecular layer of guinea-pigs and rats, respectively. It was shown that synaptic contacts of excitatory and inhibitory synapses differed in the existence of desmosome-like structures near the active zones. The classification of synaptic functions according to the ultrastructure of specialized contacts, earlier developed to identify neurons of lower vertebrates, is supposed to be applicable to the nervous system of higher vertebrates.