Previous results from immunocytochemical and retrograde transport studies indicated that some GABAergic neurons in the hilus of the dentate gyrus may have axonal projections through the hippocampal commissure. This study has utilized a combined immunocytochemical and retrograde transport method as well as 2 anterograde electron-microscopic methods to determine the existence of this projection i...

Evidence from electrophysiological studies has suggested an inhibitory interaction between GABAergic neurons in substantia nigra pars reticulata and dopaminergic neurons in pars compacta. However, that this inhibitory interaction is due to a projection from pars reticulata to pars compacta has never been demonstrated directly, nor has the GABAergic neuron that mediates the interaction been iden...

Intracellular recordings of membrane potential in vitro have defined fundamental properties of synaptic communication. Much less is known about the properties of synaptic connectivity and synaptic transmission in vivo. Here, we combined single-cell optogenetics with whole-cell recordings to investigate glutamatergic synaptic transmission in vivo from single identified excitatory neurons onto tw...

The current dominant concept for the control of saccadic eye movements by the basal ganglia is that release from tonic GABAergic inhibition by the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) triggers burst firings of intermediate gray layer (SGI) neurons in the superior colliculus (SC) to allow saccade initiation. This hypothesis is based on the assumption that SNr cells inhibit excitatory projectio...

Purkinje cells (PCs) are principal cerebellar neurons, and several classes of interneurons modulate their activity. Lugaro (LCs) one such inhibitory interneuron with distinctive cytology location, but still most enigmatic among neurons. Here we serendipitously produced a novel transgenic mouse line, where half Yellow Cameleon (YC)(+) in the cortex were judged to be LCs, YC(+) LCs estimated cons...

Aberrant GABAergic inhibition in spinal dorsal horn may underlie some forms of neuropathic pain. Potential, but yet unexplored, mechanisms include reduced excitability, abnormal discharge patterns or altered synaptic input of spinal GABAergic neurons. To test these hypotheses, we quantitatively compared active and passive membrane properties, firing patterns in response to depolarizing current ...

BACKGROUND The noradrenergic nucleus locus coeruleus (LC) has functional relevance in several psychopathologies such as stress, anxiety, and depression. In addition to glutamatergic and GABAergic synaptic inputs, the activation of somatodendritic α2-adrenoceptors is the main responsible for LC activity regulation. The Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rat exhibits depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors and hy...

The neurotransmitter GABA has been proposed to play a role during nervous system development. We show that the Caenorhabditis elegans gene unc-25 encodes glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), the GABA biosynthetic enzyme. unc-25 is expressed specifically in GABAergic neurons. Null mutations in unc-25 eliminate the UNC-25 protein or alter amino acids conserved in all known GADs, result in a complet...

The postnatal neurodevelopmental disorder Rett syndrome, caused by mutations in MECP2, produces a diverse array of symptoms, including loss of language, motor, and social skills and the development of hand stereotypies, anxiety, tremor, ataxia, respiratory dysrhythmias, and seizures. Surprisingly, despite the diversity of these features, we have found that deleting Mecp2 only from GABAergic inh...

BACKGROUND Major depression, persistent low mood, is one of common psychiatric diseases. Chronic stressful life is believed to be a major risk factor that leads to dysfunctions of the limbic system. However, a large number of the individuals with experiencing chronic stress do not suffer from major depression, called as resilience. Endogenous mechanisms underlying neuronal invulnerability to ch...