Topic: inhibitory postsynaptic currents

Myelin, produced by oligodendrocytes (OLs), is a lipid-rich structure that wraps axons, facilitating the saltatory conduction and providing metabolic support to neurons. Myelin is a highly adaptable structure whose role in regulating synaptic transmission in the healthy and diseased brain have not been extensively examined and may be relevant for understanding neuronal dysfunctions associated with myelin-related disorders. Here, we investigated excitatory (EPSCs) and inhibitory (IPSCs) post-synaptic currents in layer IV of the somatosensory (barrel) cortex using a cuprizone-induced demyelinati

Activation of hippocampal inhibitory pathways is essential for maintaining the balance between excitation and inhibition during hippocampal information processing. Somatostatin (SOM) and Parvalbumin (PV) positive GABAergic neurons are two major classes of interneurons in the hippocampus, providing strong dendritic and peri-somatic inhibition to excitatory neurons, respectively. It is well known that exposure of mice to an enriched environment (EE) reliably increases performance on hippocampus-dependent learning and memory tasks. However, the mechanisms underlying the behavioral improvements an

Although traditionally thought to act primarily in the spinal cord, emerging evidence support important inhibitory functions by glycinergic transmission in the brain. In the ventral pallidum (VP), glycinergic afferents from the brainstem make synapses onto cholinergic interneurons to regulate arousal. Notably, VP is comprised of a heterogeneous population of GABAergic neurons, of which those that express somatostatin (SOM+) comprise a significant group and have been implicated in the control of sleep and wakefulness directly inhibiting cholinergic, glutamatergic and parvalbumin neurons. Here,

Glycine receptors (GlyRs) are crucial for the balance of excitation and inhibition in the mammalian spinal cord and brain stem. They belong to the superfamily of Cys-loop receptors and form pentameric ligand-gated chloride channels consisting of postsynaptic αβ heteromers or α homomers located extrasynaptically and at presynaptic membranes. Presynaptic GlyRs trigger depolarizing chloride currents upon activation by glycine spill-over.Autoantibodies (aAbs) against GlyRs are associated with the autoimmune disease Stiff Person Syndrome but also frequently found in patients with focal epilepsy. Lo

Chandelier cells (ChCs) that are present only in cortical structures selectively form synapses on the axon initial segments (AISs) of principal neurons (PNs) – the site of action potential generation. Therefore, these GABAergic cells are in the position to control the spiking of their postsynaptic partners in the most powerful way. Here, we compared anatomical and electrophysiological features of ChCs sampled in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) of the Nkx2.1-Cre and PVeGFP mouse lines.By performing whole-cell recordings from ChCs in acute prefrontal cortical slices, we found that ChCs label