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The Journal of Neuroscience, March 15, 2003, 23(6):2002

BRIEF COMMUNICATION
GABAergic Control of Action Potential Propagation along Axonal Branches of Mammalian Sensory Neurons

Dorly Verdier¹, James P. Lund^{1, 3}, and Arlette Kolta^{1, 2, 3}

¹ Centre de Recherche en Sciences Neurologiques, and ² Faculté de Médecine Dentaire, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec H3C 3J7, Canada, and ³ Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University, Montréal, Québec H3A 2B2, Canada

The main axons of mammalian sensory neurons are usually viewed as passive transmitters of sensory information. However, the spindle afferents of jaw-closing muscles behave as if action potential traffic along their central axons is phasically regulated during rhythmic jaw movements. In this paper, we used brainstem slices containing the cell bodies, stem axons, and central axons of these sensory afferents to show that GABA applied to the descending central (caudal) axon often abolished antidromic action potentials that were elicited by electrical stimulation of the tract containing the caudal axons of the recorded cells. This effect of GABA was most often not associated with a change in membrane potential of the soma and was still present in a calcium-free medium. It was mimicked by local applications of muscimol on the axons and was blocked by bath applications of picrotoxin, suggesting activation of GABA_A receptors located on the descending axon. Antidromic action potentials could also be blocked by electrical stimulation of local interneurons, and this effect was prevented by bath application of picrotoxin, suggesting that it results from the activation of GABA_A receptors after the release of endogenous GABA. We suggest that blockage is caused mainly by shunting within the caudal axon and that motor command circuits use this mechanism to disconnect the rostral and caudal compartments of the central axon, which allows the two parts of the neuron to perform different functions during movement.

Key words: primary afferents; presynaptic inhibition; antidromic firing; mastication; central pattern generation; action potential block

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Copyright © 2003 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/03/2362002-06$05.00/0

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