Most glutamatergic inputs in the neocortex originate from the thalamus or neocortical pyramidal cells. To test whether thalamocortical afferents selectively innervate specific cortical cell subtypes and surface domains, we investigated the distribution patterns of thalamocortical and corticocortical excitatory synaptic inputs in identified postsynaptic cortical cell subtypes using intracellular...

The neuromodulator adenosine is widely considered to be a key regulator of sleep homeostasis and an indicator of sleep need. Although the effect of adenosine on subcortical areas has been previously described, the effects on cortical neurons have not been addressed systematically to date. To that purpose, we performed in vitro whole-cell patch-clamp recordings and biocytin staining of pyramidal...

Rodent somatosensory barrel cortex is organized both physiologically and anatomically in columns with a cross-sectional diameter of 100-400 microm. The underlying anatomical correlate of physiologically defined, much narrower minicolumns (20-60 microm in diameter) remains unclear. The minicolumn has been proposed to be a fundamental functional unit in the cortex, and one anatomical component of...

The precise stereotypic projections of pyramidal neurons within the six-layered cortex of mammals are key in allowing this structure to attain its high level of function. Recent studies have provided the first indications that postmitotic transcription factors are required for the formation and maintenance of both corticofugal and intracortical pyramidal cell populations. Here, we discuss these...

We give an overview of the analysis of a new type of bursting (“ghostbursting”) seen in pyramidal cells of weakly electric fish. We start with the experimental observations and characterization of the bursting, describe a compartmental model of a pyramidal cell that undergoes ghostbursting and the development of a simplified yet realistic conductance–based model of this cell. This model then mo...

The CA1 pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus are selectively vulnerable to transient ischemic damage. In experimental animals, the CA1 pyramidal neurons undergo cell death several days after brief forebrain ischemia. It remains, however, unknown whether this delayed neuronal death is necrosis or apoptosis. To investigate the degenerating processes of the CA1 pyramidal neurons in gerbil hippocam...

This directory contains the Neuron code for the CA1 pyramidal cell model and the experiments described in: 1. Poirazi, P. Brannon, T. & Mel, B.W. Arithmetic of Subthreshold Synaptic Summation in a Model CA1 Pyramidal Cell. In Press, Neuron , February 2003. 2. Poirazi, P. Brannon, T. & Mel, B.W. Online Supplement: About the Model. In Press, Neuron , February 2003. 3. Poirazi, P. Brannon, T. & Me...

The dendrites of pyramidal cells are active compartments capable of independent computations, input/output transformation and synaptic plasticity. Pyramidal cells in the CA1 area of the hippocampus receive 92% of their GABAergic input onto dendrites. How does this GABAergic input participate in dendritic computations of pyramidal cells? One key to understanding their contribution to dendritic c...

The inhibition of hippocampal pyramidal cells occurs via inhibitory interneurons making GABAergic synapses on distinct segments of the postsynaptic membrane. In area CA1 of the hippocampus, the activation of mu- and delta-opioid receptors inhibits these interneurons, thereby increasing the excitability of the pyramidal cells. Through the use of selective opioid agonists and biocytin-filled whol...