scholarly journals Synaptic GABAA Activation Inhibits AMPA-Kainate Receptor–Mediated Bursting in the Newborn (P0–P2) Rat Hippocampus

2000 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 359-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karri Lamsa ◽  
J. Matias Palva ◽  
Eva Ruusuvuori ◽  
Kai Kaila ◽  
Tomi Taira

The mechanisms of synaptic transmission in the rat hippocampus at birth are assumed to be fundamentally different from those found in the adult. It has been reported that in the CA3-CA1 pyramidal cells a conversion of “silent” glutamatergic synapses to conductive α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) synapses starts gradually after P2. Further, GABA via its depolarizing action seems to give rise to grossly synchronous yet slow calcium oscillations. Therefore, GABA is generally thought to have a purely excitatory rather than an inhibitory role during the first postnatal week. In the present study field potential recordings and gramicidin perforated and whole cell clamp techniques as well as K+-selective microelectrodes were used to examine the relative contributions of AMPA and GABAA receptors to network activity of CA3-CA1 pyramidal cells in the newborn rat hippocampus. As early as postnatal day( P 0–P2), highly coherent spontaneous firing of CA3 pyramidal cells was seen in vitro. Negative-going extracellular spikes confined to periodic bursts (interval 16 ± 3 s) consisting of 2.9 ± 0.1 spikes were observed in stratum pyramidale. The spikes were accompanied by AMPA-R–mediated postsynaptic currents (PSCs) in simultaneously recorded pyramidal neurons (7.6 ± 3.0 unitary currents per burst). In CA1 pyramidal cells synchronous discharging of CA3 circuitry produced a barrage of AMPA currents at >20 Hz frequencies, thus demonstrating a transfer of the fast CA3 network activity to CA1 area. Despite its depolarizing action, GABAA-R–mediated transmission appeared to exert inhibition in the CA3 pyramidal cell population. The GABAA-R antagonist bicuculline hypersynchronized the output of glutamatergic CA3 circuitry and increased the network-driven excitatory input to the pyramidal neurons, whereas the GABAA-R agonist muscimol (100 nM) did the opposite. However, the occurrence of unitary GABAA-R currents was increased after muscimol application from 0.66 ± 0.16 s−1 to 1.43 ± 0.29 s−1. It was concluded that AMPA synapses are critical in the generation of spontaneous high-frequency bursts in CA3 as well as in CA3-CA1 transmission as early as P0–P2 in rat hippocampus. Concurrently, although GABAA-R–mediated depolarization may excite hippocampal interneurons, in CA3 pyramidal neurons it can restrain excitatory inputs and limit the size of the activated neuronal population.

2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Spampanato ◽  
Istvan Mody

Network activity in the 200- to 600-Hz range termed high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) has been detected in epileptic tissue from both humans and rodents and may underlie the mechanism of epileptogenesis in experimental rodent models. Slower network oscillations including theta and gamma oscillations as well as ripples are generated by the complex spike timing and interactions between interneurons and pyramidal cells of the hippocampus. We determined the activity of CA3 pyramidal cells, stratum oriens lacunosum-moleculare (O-LM) and s. radiatum lacunosum-moleculare (R-LM) interneurons during HFO in the in vitro low-Mg2+ model of epileptiform activity in GIN mice. In these animals, interneurons can be identified prior to cell-attached recordings by the expression of green-fluorescent protein (GFP). Simultaneous local field potential recordings from s. pyramidale and on-cell recordings of individual interneurons and principal cells revealed three primary firing behaviors of the active cells: 36% of O-LM interneurons and 60% of pyramidal cells fired action potentials at high frequencies during the HFO. R-LM interneurons were biphasic in that they fired at high frequency at the beginning of the HFO but stopped firing before its end. When considering only the highest frequency component of the oscillations most pyramidal cells fired on the rising phase of the oscillation. These data provide evidence for functional distinction during HFOs within otherwise homogeneous groups of O-LM interneurons and pyramidal cells.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Teleńczuk ◽  
Bartosz Teleńczuk ◽  
Alain Destexhe

AbstractSynaptic currents represent a major contribution to the local field potential (LFP) in brain tissue, but the respective contribution of excitatory and inhibitory synapses is not known. Here, we provide estimates of this contribution by using computational models of hippocampal pyramidal neurons, constrained by in vitro recordings. We focus on the unitary LFP (uLFP) generated by single neurons in the CA3 region of the hippocampus. We first reproduce experimental results for hippocampal basket cells, and in particular how inhibitory uLFP are distributed within hippocampal layers. Next, we calculate the uLFP generated by pyramidal neurons, using morphologically-reconstructed CA3 pyramidal cells. The model shows that the excitatory uLFP is of small amplitude, smaller than inhibitory uLFPs. Indeed, when the two are simulated together, inhibitory uLFPs mask excitatory uLFPs, which might create the illusion that the inhibitory field is generated by pyramidal cells. These results provide an explanation for the observation that excitatory and inhibitory uLFPs are of the same polarity, in vivo and in vitro. These results also show that somatic inhibitory currents are large contributors of the LFP, which is important information to interpret this signal. Finally, the results of our model might form the basis of a simple method to compute the LFP, which could be applied to point neurons for each cell type, thus providing a simple biologically-grounded method to calculate LFPs from neural networks.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Udakis ◽  
Victor Pedrosa ◽  
Sophie E.L. Chamberlain ◽  
Claudia Clopath ◽  
Jack R Mellor

SummaryThe formation and maintenance of spatial representations within hippocampal cell assemblies is strongly dictated by patterns of inhibition from diverse interneuron populations. Although it is known that inhibitory synaptic strength is malleable, induction of long-term plasticity at distinct inhibitory synapses and its regulation of hippocampal network activity is not well understood. Here, we show that inhibitory synapses from parvalbumin and somatostatin expressing interneurons undergo long-term depression and potentiation respectively (PV-iLTD and SST-iLTP) during physiological activity patterns. Both forms of plasticity rely on T-type calcium channel activation to confer synapse specificity but otherwise employ distinct mechanisms. Since parvalbumin and somatostatin interneurons preferentially target perisomatic and distal dendritic regions respectively of CA1 pyramidal cells, PV-iLTD and SST-iLTP coordinate a reprioritisation of excitatory inputs from entorhinal cortex and CA3. Furthermore, circuit-level modelling reveals that PV-iLTD and SST-iLTP cooperate to stabilise place cells while facilitating representation of multiple unique environments within the hippocampal network.


2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 1196-1208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen-Jun Gao

Recent studies have indicated that impaired neural circuitry in the prefrontal cortex is a prominent feature of the neuropathology of schizophrenia. Clozapine is one of the most effective antipsychotic drugs used for this debilitating disease. Despite its effectiveness, the mechanism by which clozapine acts on prefrontal cortical circuitry remains poorly understood. In this study, in vitro multiple whole cell recordings were performed in slices of the ferret prefrontal cortex. Clozapine, which effectively inhibited the spontaneous synchronized network activities in the prefrontal neurons, achieved the suppressive effect by decreasing the recurrent excitation among pyramidal neurons and by enhancing the inhibitory inputs onto pyramidal cells through a likely network mechanism. Indeed, under the condition of disinhibition, the depressing effects were reversed and clozapine enhanced the recurrent excitation. These results suggest that the therapeutic actions of clozapine in alleviating the positive symptoms of schizophrenia are achieved, at least partially, through the readjustment of synaptic balance between the excitation and inhibition in the prefrontal cortical circuitry.


2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (5) ◽  
pp. 1296-1306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jokūbas Žiburkus ◽  
John R. Cressman ◽  
Steven J. Schiff

Precisely timed and dynamically balanced excitatory (E) and inhibitory (I) conductances underlie the basis of neural network activity. Normal E/I balance is often shifted in epilepsy, resulting in neuronal network hyperexcitability and recurrent seizures. However, dynamics of the actual excitatory and inhibitory synaptic conductances ( ge and gi, respectively) during seizures remain unknown. To study the dynamics of E and I network balance, we calculated ge and gi during the initiation, body, and termination of seizure-like events (SLEs) in the rat hippocampus in vitro. Repetitive emergent SLEs in 4-aminopyridine (100 μM) and reduced extracellular magnesium (0.6 mM) were recorded in the identified CA1 pyramidal cells (PC) and oriens-lacunosum moleculare (O-LM) interneurons. Calculated ge/ gi ratio dynamics showed that the initiation stage of the SLEs was dominated by inhibition in the PCs and was more balanced in the O-LM cells. During the body of the SLEs, the balance shifted toward excitation, with ge and gi peaking in both cell types at nearly the same time. In the termination phase, PCs were again dominated by inhibition, whereas O-LM cells experienced persistent excitatory synaptic barrage. In this way, increased excitability of interneurons may play roles in both seizure initiation (Žiburkus J, Cressman JR, Barreto E, Schiff SJ. J Neurophysiol 95: 3948–3954, 2006) and in their termination. Overall, SLE stages can be characterized in PC and O-LM cells by dynamically distinct changes in the balance of ge and gi, where a temporal sequence of imbalance shifts with the changing firing patterns of the cellular subtypes comprising the hyperexcitable microcircuits.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Upchurch ◽  
Crescent L. Combe ◽  
Christopher Knowlton ◽  
Valery G. Rousseau ◽  
Sonia Gasparini ◽  
...  

The hippocampus is involved in memory and spatial navigation. Many CA1 pyramidal cells function as place cells, increasing their firing rate when a specific place field is traversed. The dependence of CA1 place cell firing on position within the place field is asymmetric. We investigated the source of this asymmetry by injecting triangular depolarizing current ramps to approximate the spatially-tuned, temporally-diffuse depolarizing synaptic input received by these neurons while traversing a place field. Ramps were applied to rat CA1 pyramidal neurons in vitro (slice electrophysiology) and in silico (multi-compartmental NEURON model). Under control conditions, CA1 neurons fired more action potentials at higher frequencies on the up-ramp versus the down-ramp. This effect was more pronounced for dendritic compared to somatic ramps. We incorporated a five-state Markov scheme for NaV1.6 channels into our model and calibrated the spatial dependence of long-term inactivation according to the literature; this spatial dependence was sufficient to explain the difference in dendritic versus somatic ramps. Long-term inactivation reduced the firing frequency by decreasing open-state occupancy, and reduced spike amplitude during trains by decreasing occupancy in closed states, which comprise the available pool. PKC activators like phorbol ester phorbol-dibutyrate (PDBu) are known to reduce NaV long-term inactivation. PDBu application removed spike amplitude attenuation during spike trains in vitro, more visibly in dendrites, consistent with decreased NaV long-term inactivation. Moreover, PDBu greatly reduced adaptation, consistent with our hypothesized mechanism. Our synergistic experimental/computational approach shows that long-term inactivation of NaV1.6 is the primary mechanism of adaptation in CA1 pyramidal cells.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen A Bell ◽  
Rayne Delong ◽  
Priyodarshan Goswamee ◽  
A Rory McQuiston

Abstract The entorhinal cortex alvear pathway is a major excitatory input to hippocampal CA1, yet nothing is known about its physiological impact. We investigated the alvear pathway projection and innervation of neurons in CA1 using optogenetics and whole cell patch clamp methods in transgenic mouse brain slices. Using this approach, we show that the medial entorhinal cortical alvear inputs onto CA1 pyramidal cells (PCs) and interneurons with cell bodies located in stratum oriens were monosynaptic, had low release probability, and were mediated by glutamate receptors. Optogenetic theta burst stimulation was unable to elicit suprathreshold activation of CA1 PCs but was capable of activating CA1 interneurons. However, different subtypes of interneurons were not equally affected. Higher burst action potential frequencies were observed in parvalbumin-expressing interneurons relative to vasoactive-intestinal peptide-expressing or a subset of oriens lacunosum-moleculare (O-LM) interneurons. Furthermore, alvear excitatory synaptic responses were observed in greater than 70% of PV and VIP interneurons and less than 20% of O-LM cells. Finally, greater than 50% of theta burst-driven inhibitory postsynaptic current amplitudes in CA1 PCs were inhibited by optogenetic suppression of PV interneurons. Therefore, our data suggest that the alvear pathway primarily affects hippocampal CA1 function through feedforward inhibition of select interneuron subtypes.


2008 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 1394-1407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Potez ◽  
Matthew E. Larkum

Understanding the impact of active dendritic properties on network activity in vivo has so far been restricted to studies in anesthetized animals. However, to date no study has been made to determine the direct effect of the anesthetics themselves on dendritic properties. Here, we investigated the effects of three types of anesthetics commonly used for animal experiments (urethane, pentobarbital and ketamine/xylazine). We investigated the generation of calcium spikes, the propagation of action potentials (APs) along the apical dendrite and the somatic firing properties in the presence of anesthetics in vitro using dual somatodendritic whole cell recordings. Calcium spikes were evoked with dendritic current injection and high-frequency trains of APs at the soma. Surprisingly, we found that the direct actions of anesthetics on calcium spikes were very different. Two anesthetics (urethane and pentobarbital) suppressed dendritic calcium spikes in vitro, whereas a mixture of ketamine and xylazine enhanced them. Propagation of spikes along the dendrite was not significantly affected by any of the anesthetics but there were various changes in somatic firing properties that were highly dependent on the anesthetic. Last, we examined the effects of anesthetics on calcium spike initiation and duration in vivo using high-frequency trains of APs generated at the cell body. We found the same anesthetic-dependent direct effects in addition to an overall reduction in dendritic excitability in anesthetized rats with all three anesthetics compared with the slice preparation.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document