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Martinotti cells are small multipolar neurons with short branching . They are scattered throughout various layers of the cerebral cortex, sending their axons up to the Cerebral cortex layer I where they form arborization. The arbors transgress multiple cortical column in layer VI and make contacts with the distal tuft dendrites of . Martinotti cells express somatostatin and sometimes calbindin, but not parvalbumin or vasoactive intestinal peptide. Furthermore, Martinotti cells in layer V have been shown to express the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor α2 subunit (Chrna2).
Martinotti cells are associated with a cortical dampening mechanism. When the pyramidal cell neuron, which is the most common type of neuron in the cortex, starts getting overexcited, Martinotti cells start sending inhibitory signals to the surrounding neurons.
Historically, the discovery of Martinotti cells has been mistakenly attributed to Giovanni Martinotti 1888, although it is now accepted that they were actually discovered in 1889 by Carlo Martinotti (1859–1908), a student of Camillo Golgi.
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