Purkinje cell
Purkinje cells also receive input from the inferior olivary nucleus via climbing fibers. A good mnemonic for this interaction is the phrase "climb the other olive tree", given that climbing fibers originate from the contralateral inferior olive. In striking contrast to the 100,000-plus inputs from parallel fibers, each Purkinje cell receives input from exactly one climbing fiber; but this single fiber "climbs" the dendrites of the Purkinje cell, winding around them and making a large number of synapses as it goes. The net input is so strong that a single action potential from a climbing fiber is capable of producing a "complex spike" in the Purkinje cell: a burst of several spikes in a row, with diminishing amplitude, followed by a pause during which simple spikes are suppressed.