Term: Lugaro neuron

Definition: Lugaro cells, which are found in all parts of the cerebellum [...] must therefore be considered as a distinct cell class: (1) they are nearly always located at the upper border of the granular layer, just beneath the monolayer of Purkinje cell somata, only very few neurons being scattered in the depth of the granular layer; (2) they have a bipolar fusiform shape, the soma being elongated in a parasagittal direction from which the long dendrites radiate in a diverging manner, extending in a flattened horizontal X underneath the ganglionic layer; and (3) their axon projects into the molecular layer with a constant profuse local plexus and some apparently inconstant distal fibers, while a few sparse projections to the granular layer are also systematically found.