Chandelier Cells Illuminate Inhibitory Control of Prefrontal–Amygdala Outputs

Chandelier cells and epilepsy.

The main goal of this article is to review certain aspects of the circuitry of the human cerebral cortex that may be particularly relevant for the development, maintenance or spread of seizures. There are a number of different structural abnormalities that are commonly found in the cortex of epileptic patients, but these abnormalities do not appear to be intrinsically epileptogenic, since some ...

Anatomy & Physiology - Chandelier Cells

The Enigmatic Function of Chandelier Cells

Chandelier (or axo-axonic) cells are one of the most distinctive GABAergic interneurons in the brain. Their exquisite target specificity for the axon initial segment of pyramidal neurons, together with their GABAergic nature, long suggested the possibility that they provide the ultimate inhibitory control of pyramidal neuron output. Recent findings indicate that their function may be more compl...

Control of Dendritic Outputs of Inhibitory Interneurons in the Lateral Geniculate Nucleus

The thalamic relay to neocortex is dynamically gated. The inhibitory interneuron, which we have studied in the lateral geniculate nucleus, is important to this process. In addition to axonal outputs, these cells have dendritic terminals that are both presynaptic and postsynaptic. Even with action potentials blocked, activation of ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors on these terminal...

Control of Inhibitory Synaptic Outputs by Low Excitability of Axon Terminals Revealed by Direct Recording

An axon is thought to faithfully conduct action potentials to its terminals. However, many features of the axon and axon terminals, especially at inhibitory synapses, remain unknown. By directly recording from the axon and terminal of a cultured cerebellar Purkinje cell (PC), we demonstrate that low membrane excitability of axon terminals shapes synaptic output. Simultaneous measurements of pre...