Inferior olive excitability after high frequency climbing fibre activation in the cat

1. Climbing fibre responses (CFRs) were evoked by limb nerve stimulation and recorded from the cerebellar surface in barbiturate anaesthetized cats. Climbing fibres were activated at frequencies of usually 2.5-7.5 Hz for periods of 15-30 s, after which the stimulation frequency was reduced to below 1 Hz. 2. The high-frequency stimulation induced a strong depression of CFR-amplitude, lasting up to 60 s. The magnitude of this depression was dependent on both the frequency and the duration of the high-frequency stimulation. 3. The depression occurred in the c1, c2 and c3 zones of the pars intermedia and in the x zone in the vermis but not in the b zone in the vermis. 4. Recordings of olivary reflex responses demonstrated that the depression occurred in the inferior olive. 5. It is suggested that the inhibition of the inferior olive occurs because the high-frequency stimulation leads to a disinhibition of neurones in the interpositus nucleus which inhibit the olivary neurones.