News Finding: The Purkinje cells appear to be organized based on a preference for error in only a small part of the task space.
Paper Finding: We found that if we organized the simple spikes of the Purkinje cells based on each cell's complex-spike properties, additional features of the population activity were unmasked.
News Context: For example, Shadmehr found that when the monkeys missed the target by 3 degrees of distance, a complex spike appeared after 100 milliseconds, and if the monkeys missed by 8 degrees, a complex spike appeared in 120 milliseconds. The Purkinje cells appear to be organized based on a preference for error in only a small part of the task space. When you experience an error to the right, it causes learning by engaging Purkinje cells that register that error.
Paper Context: The input from the olive produces complex spikes in the Purkinje cells. We found that if we organized the simple spikes of the Purkinje cells based on each cell's complex-spike properties, additional features of the population activity were unmasked. Figure 3b shows the change in population response from the baseline level when a saccade was made in the same direction as CS-off.