Inhibition and excitation induced by glutamic acid on cerebellar interneurons

Thin sections of guinea pig cerebellum were incubated in an artificial medium and responses of neurons in the granular layer to glutamic acid were studied. About half of these neurons were inhibited by glutamate administered electrophoretically (GI cells) and others were excited (GE cells). The GI cells were also inhibited in a medium containing glutamate. Gamma-amino butyric acid inhibited the GI as well as the GE cells. The inhibition in the GI cells induced by glutamate was not susceptible to picrotoxin or strychnine medication, and was not blocked in a CI-free medium or in a medium containing CA2+ in low concentrations and Mg2+ in high concentrations. Some GI cells showed high-amplitude spikes which were recordable at distances of tens of micrometer from the cell. These observations indicate that at least some of the GI cells were large Golgi cells and that the inhibition induced by glutamate in the GI cells was not mediated by inhibitory interneurons.