Recruitment of parvalbumin and somatostatin interneuron inputs to adult born dentate granule neurons

GABA is a key regulator of adult-born dentate granule cell (abDGC) maturation so mapping the functional connectivity between abDGCs and local interneurons is required to understand their development and integration into the hippocampal circuit. We recorded from birthdated abDGCs in mice and photoactivated parvalbumin (PV) and somatostatin (SST) interneurons to map the timing and strength of inputs to abDGCs during the first 4 weeks after differentiation. abDGCs received input from PV interneurons in the first week, but SST inputs were not detected until the second week. Analysis of desynchronized quantal events established that the number of GABAergic synapses onto abDGCs increased with maturation, whereas individual synaptic strength was constant. Voluntary wheel running in mice scaled the GABAergic input to abDGCs by increasing the number of synaptic contacts from both interneuron types. This demonstrates that GABAergic innervation to abDGCs develops during a prolonged post-mitotic period and running scales both SST and PV synaptic afferents.