Purkinje cells (PCs) are unique fan-shaped neurons found only in the cerebellum. PCs facilitate well-coordinated movements and help the brain automatically make quick course corrections when a movement goes wrong or something unexpected happens, such as slipping or losing your balance. In this way, Purkinje cells protect us from accidents and other mishaps that could cause bodily harm or even death.

Throughout the 20th century, Purkinje cells were viewed primarily as the seat of muscle memory because they help athletes and others who perfect physically coordinated motions move lots of different muscles synchronistically without overthinking the process. The fluidity of graceful, perfectly coordinated movement relies on the cerebellum's Purkinje cells.

More recently, accumulating 21st-century evidence suggests that in addition to coordinating voluntary muscle movements, the cerebellum's Purkinje cells may also play a role in coordinating neuronal communication in the cerebral cortex associated with human thinking processes. (See "The Neuroscience of Superfluid Thinking")

New research (Sepp and colleagues, 2023) from Heidelberg University's Center for Molecular........

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