Withdrawal anxiety is a significant factor contributing to continued alcohol abuse in alcoholics. This anxiety is long lasting, can manifest well after the overt physical symptoms of withdrawal, and is frequently associated with relapse in recovering alcoholics. The neurobiological mechanisms governing these withdrawal-associated increases in anxiety are currently unknown. The basolateral amygd...

Extracellular recordings were obtained from the ganglion cell (GC) layer during correlated spontaneous bursting activity (SBA) in the immature turtle retina. Pharmacological agents were bath-applied, and their effects on burst and correlation parameters were determined. SBA requires synaptic transmission. It was blocked in the presence of curare and mecamylamine, two cholinergic nicotinic antag...

1 Somatostatin (SRIF) is a cyclic tetradecapeptide present in medium-sized aspiny interneurones in the rat striatum. We have previously shown that exogenous SRIF potently stimulates striatal dopamine (DA) release via a glutamate-dependent mechanism. We now report the ability of the selective sst2 receptor agonist, BIM-23027, to mimic this effect of SRIF. 2 In vivo microdialysis studies were per...

Synaptic activity recorded from low-density networks of cultured rat hippocampal neurons was monitored using microelectrode arrays (MEAs). Neuronal networks were patterned with poly-l-lysine (PLL) using microcontact printing (microCP). Polydimethysiloxane (PDMS) stamps were fabricated with relief structures resulting in patterns of 2 microm-wide lines for directing process growth and 20 microm-...

Receptive-field plasticity within the auditory neocortex is associated with learning, memory, and acetylcholine (ACh). However, the interplay of elements involved in changing receptive-fields remains unclear. Herein, we describe a depolarizing and a hyperpolarizing potential elicited by repetitive stimulation (20-100 Hz, 0.5-2 sec) and dependent on ACh, which may be involved in modifying recept...

The cholinergic amacrine cells of the rabbit retina may be labeled with 3H-choline (3H-Ch), and the activity of the cholinergic population may be monitored by following the release of 3H-ACh. Glutamate analogs caused massive ACh release, up to 50 times the basal efflux, with the following rank order of potency: alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) greater than quisqua...

The cellular mechanisms underlying the induction and expression of homosynaptic depression at the glutamatergic synapse between Aplysia sensory and motor neurons were studied in dissociated cell culture. Intracellular microelectrodes were used to stimulate action potentials in the presynaptic sensory neuron and record the depolarizing EPSP from the motor neuron. Homosynaptic depression (HSD) wa...

Because modulation of cortical cholinergic neurotransmission has been hypothesized to represent a necessary mechanism mediating the beneficial cognitive effects of nicotine and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subtype-selective agonists, we used choline-sensitive microelectrodes for the real-time measurement of ACh release in vivo, to characterize cholinergic transients evoked by nicoti...

Many mammals rely on pheromones for mediating social interactions. Recent studies indicate that both the main olfactory system (MOS) and accessory olfactory system (AOS) detect and process pheromonal stimuli, yet the functional difference between these two chemosensory systems remains unclear. We hypothesized that the main functional distinction between the MOS and AOS is the type of sensory in...

BACKGROUND Removing and sequestering synaptically released glutamate from the extracellular space is carried out by specific plasma membrane transporters that are primarily located in astrocytes. Glial glutamate transporter function can be monitored by recording the currents that are produced by co-transportation of Na+ ions with the uptake of glutamate. The goal of this study was to characteri...