Topic: parvalbumin-expressing basket cells

Although much work has been devoted to studying the function of molecularly-defined subtypes of GABAergic interneurons in circuits and behaviors, it has been debated if cells belonging to the same molecular and morphological type, for example parvalbumin-expressing basket cells, do homogeneously engage in circuit operations in behaving animals. This can only be studied if the identity of the recorded cell is unambiguously determined. We have established a method to optotag juxtacellularly-recorded neurons in freely-moving rats performing a decision-making task to investigate the operational he

The mammalian cortex is complex, consisting of many functionally distinct areas. Understanding how this diversification occurs remains a major goal. Interneurons in the adult mouse cortex are diverse, they can be defined based on developmental origin, distinct morphology, physiological and molecular properties (e.g. parvalbumin-expressing basket cells). Despite making up approximately 1/6 of the total neuronal population we do not currently have a cortex-wide map of interneurons.Using transgenic mice to label cells we have mapped the distribution of all interneurons, of 2 broad populations (MG