Orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is a region of prefrontal cortex implicated in the motivational control of behavior and in related abnormalities seen in psychosis and depression. It has been hypothesized that a critical mechanism in these disorders is the dysfunction of GABAergic interneurons that normally regulate prefrontal information processing. Here, we studied a subclass of interneurons isolat...

To explore the role of spinal cord plasticity in motor learning, we evaluated the effects of H-reflex operant conditioning on GABAergic input to rat spinal motoneurons. Previous work indicated that down-conditioning of soleus H-reflex increases GABAergic input to soleus motoneurons. This study explored the effect of H-reflex up-conditioning on GABAergic input. Of nine rats exposed to H-reflex u...

Central dopamine neurones are involved in regulating cognitive and motor processes. Most of these neurones are located in the ventral mesencephalon where they receive abundant intrinsic and extrinsic GABAergic input. Cholinergic neurones, originating from mesopontine nuclei, project profusely in the mesencephalon where they preferentially synapse onto local GABAergic neurones. The physiological...

Distinct interneuron populations innervate perisomatic and dendritic regions of cortical cells. Perisomatically terminating GABAergic inputs are effective in timing postsynaptic action potentials, and basket cells synchronize each other via gap junctions combined with neighboring GABAergic synapses. The function of dendritic GABAergic synapses in cortical rhythmicity, and their interaction with...

GABAergic and glycinergic IPSCs were studied in identified retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) of light-adapted rat retinal slices, using whole-cell recording techniques. GABAergic IPSCs were blocked specifically by SR95531 (3 microM) and bicuculline (3 microM) and glycinergic IPSCs by strychnine (0.3 microM). From 37 RGCs studied, 25 showed exclusively GABAergic IPSCs, 6 presented only glycinergic I...

Neural circuits are composed of mainly glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons, which communicate through synaptic connections. Many factors instruct the formation and function of these synapses; however, it is difficult to dissect the contribution of intrinsic cell programs from that of extrinsic environmental effects in an intact network. Here, we perform paired recordings from two-neuron microcu...

GABA is a key mediator of neural activity in the mammalian central nervous system, and a diverse set of GABAergic neurons utilize GABA as a transmitter. It has been widely accepted that GABAergic neurons typically serve as interneurons while glutamatergic principal cells send excitatory signals to remote areas. In general, glutamatergic projection neurons monosynaptically innervate both princip...

A proportionality or balance between coactivated excitatory and inhibitory inputs is often observed for individual cortical neurons and is proposed to be important for their functions. This feature of neural circuits may arise from coordinated modulation of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs, a mechanism that remains unknown. Here, in vivo whole-cell recordings from tectal neurons of you...

Ammonia is known to be a potent neurotoxin that causes severe negative effects on the central nervous system. Excessive ammonia levels have been detected in the brain of patients with neurological disorders such as Alzheimer disease (AD). Therefore, ammonia could be a factor contributing to the progression of AD. In this review, we provide an introduction to the toxicity of ammonia and putative...

the cholinergic and gabaergic .bers of the medial septal/diagonal band of broca (ms/db) area project to the hippocampus and constitute the septo-hippocampal pathway, which has been proven to play a role in learning and memory. in addition, the hippocampus has bidirectional connections with the septum so that to self-regulate of cholinergic input. the activity of septal and hippocampal neurons i...