Unipolar brush cells (UBCs) are a class of excitatory interneuron found in the 
granule cell layer of the vestibulocerebellum. Mossy fibers form excitatory 
inputs on to the paint brush shaped dendrioles in the form of giant, 
glutamatergic synapses, activation of which results in prolonged bursts of 
action potentials in the postsynaptic UBC. The axons of UBCs themselves form 
mossy fiber contacts with other UBCs and granule cells, forming an excitatory, 
intrinsic cerebellar network that has the capacity to synchronize and amplify 
mossy fiber inputs to potentially large populations of granule cells. In this 
paper, we demonstrate that UBCs in rat cerebellar slices express low voltage 
activated (LVA) fast-inactivating and high voltage activated (HVA) slowly 
inactivating calcium channels. LVA calcium currents are mediated by T-type 
calcium channels and they are associated with calcium increases in the dendrites 
and to a lesser extent the cell soma. HVA currents, mediated by L-type calcium 
channels, are slowly inactivating and they produce larger overall increases in 
intracellular calcium but with a similar distribution pattern. We review these 
observations alongside several recent papers that examine how intrinsic membrane 
properties influence UBCs firing patterns and we discuss how UBC signaling may 
affect downstream cerebellar processing.