The role of glycine and GABA as inhibitory neurotransmitters in the adult vertebrate nervous system has been well characterized in a variety of model systems, including the auditory, which is particularly well suited for analyzing inhibitory neurotransmission. However, a full understanding of glycinergic and GABAergic transmission requires profound knowledge of how the precise organization of s...

Chronic nicotine exposure increases sensitivity to nicotine reward during a withdrawal period, which may facilitate relapse in abstinent smokers, yet the molecular neuroadaptation(s) that contribute to this phenomenon are unknown. Interestingly, chronic nicotine use induces functional upregulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the mesocorticolimbic reward pathway potentially ...

Human and animal studies indicate that k-opioid receptors (KORs) are involved in ethanol drinking and dependence (Xuei et al., 2006; Walker and Koob, 2008; Walker et al., 2011). Using in vitro singlecell recording techniques in mouse brain slices, we examined the physiologic effects of KOR activation in the central amygdala (CeA) on GABAergic neurotransmission and its interaction with acute eth...

In the adult central nervous system (CNS), gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA) is a predominant inhibitory neurotransmitter, which regulates glutamatergic activity. Recent studies have revealed that GABA serves as an excitatory transmitter in the immature CNS, and is involved in brain morphogenesis. To elucidate how GABA exerts its effect on immature neurons and how GABAergic synapses are formed, w...

Introduction: The Bed nucleus stria terminalis (BST) is a part of the limbic system. It was recently shown that chemical stimulation of the BST by L-glutamate elicited cardiovascular depressive responses. In the present study, we have investigated the possible cardiovascular role of the GABAergic receptors in BST by microinjection of its agonist and antagonists. Methods: Experiments were p...

Limbic encephalitis is an adaptive autoimmune disease, induced by different autoantibodies, which target extracellular neuronal epitopes, such as NMDA or GABAB receptors1,2. Recently our group found another human antibody, which binds to the α1 subunit of the GABAA receptor. Since the GABAA receptor is responsible for the majority of fast inhibitory neurotransmission, we investigated chan...

A decline in cardiovascular modulation is a feature of the normal aging process and associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) such as hypertension and stroke. Exercise training is known to promote cardiovascular adaptation in young animals and positive effects on motor and cognitive capabilities, as well as on brain plasticity for all ages in mice. Here, we examine the question of whether ...

In the brain, gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), released extrasynaptically and synaptically from GABAergic neurons, plays important roles in morphogenesis, expression of higher functions and so on. In the GABAergic transmission system, plasma membrane GABA transporters (GATs) mediate GABA-uptake from the synaptic cleft in the mature brain and are thought to mediate diacrine of cytosolic GABA in ...