Singing cells in our brain

BENGALURU: A recent study by Bengaluru-based scientists has found that the nerve cells found at the base of the brain – cerebellum – send out electrical signals in either a constant hum or in sudden bursts.
The decision to pick one of these two tunes is made by the cell based on the “voltage across their cell membranes and on input from a specific region of the brain under certain conditions.”
The study conducted by Mohini Sengupta and Vatsala Thirumalai, from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), in North Bengaluru here has been able to demonstrate this.
The cerebellum is a small leaf-like structure at the base of our brain that is important for controlling balance, coordination and for learning new motor skills such as riding a bicycle or playing a piano.
Allowing these functions are nerve cells called ‘Purkinje cells’, which are neatly arranged in a single layer within the cerebellum.
The Purkinje cells’ tune theory demonstrated by the scientists says that these cells receive signals from many different regions of the brain and send out messages to the deeper layers of cerebellum.