Metabotropic glutamate receptors type 1 (mGluR1s) are required for a normal function of the mammalian brain. They are particularly important for synaptic signaling and plasticity in the cerebellum. Unlike ionotropic glutamate receptors that mediate rapid synaptic transmission, mGluR1s produce in cerebellar Purkinje cells a complex postsynaptic response consisting of two distinct signal componen...

We investigated the location, physiology, and modulation of an identified synapse from the central nervous system (CNS) of the mollusk Lymnaea stagnalis. Specifically, the excitatory synapse from interneuron right pedal dorsal one (RPeD1) to neurons visceral dorsal two and three (VD2/3) was examined. The gross and fine morphology of these neurons was determined by staining with Lucifer yellow o...

The effects of acute administration of amphetamine on membrane potentials and evoked postsynaptic potentials of caudate neurons in cats were assessed using intracellular recording. High doses of amphetamine (0.5 mg/kg, i.v.) produced a reversible depolarization of the cell membrane in 78% of cells tested. Low doses (0.1 mg/kg) had no effect on the resting membrane potential. Long-lasting increa...

We used intracellular recording in the hippocampal slice in vitro to characterize further the mechanisms behind the unusual excitatory action of opiates and opioid peptides on hippocampal pyramidal cells in vivo. No significant effect on resting membrane potential, input resistance, or action potential size in cortical area 1 (CA1) pyramidal cells was observed with morphine sulfate, beta-endorp...

Adenosine is a potent neuromodulator in the CNS, but the mechanisms that regulate adenosine concentrations in the extracellular space remain unclear. The present study demonstrates that increasing the intracellular concentration of adenosine in a single hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neuron selectively inhibits the excitatory postsynaptic potentials in that cell. Loading neurons with high concentrat...

Guanidine administration may be beneficial in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and related diseases; however, the actions of guanidine on the mammalian central nervous system have not been investigated. We studied the effects of this compound on neuronal properties and synaptic transmission in isolated slices of guinea pig olfactory cortex using intraand extracellular recording me...

Conventional intracellular microelectrodes and injection of biocytin were used to study the actions of IL-1beta and IL-6 on electrical and synaptic behavior in morphologically identified guinea pig small intestinal submucous neurons. Exposure to nanomolar concentrations of either IL-1beta or IL-6 stimulated neuronal excitability. The excitatory action consisted of depolarization of the membrane...

Potassium channels located in the dendrites of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons control the shape and amplitude of back-propagating action potentials, the amplitude of excitatory postsynaptic potentials and dendritic excitability. Non-uniform gradients in the distribution of potassium channels in the dendrites make the dendritic electrical properties markedly different from those found in the ...

We investigated the role of A-type K(+) channels for the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) of Schaffer collateral inputs to hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons. When low-amplitude excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) were paired with two postsynaptic action potentials in a theta-burst pattern, N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA)-receptor-dependent LTP was induced. The amplitudes of the back...

We present here the results of some exact calculations of the expected firing rates of neurons which receive random synaptic excitation or randomly arrivin g intracellularly injected short lasting current pulses. The assumptions of the model 27,28, insofar as it is used here are: (a) arrival of an EPSP or current pulse causes the membrane depolarization to increase by e mV, (b) the individual E...