QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, August 27, 2008, 28(35):8851-8859; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2385-08.2008

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (5) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Luna, V. M. Articles by Schoppa, N. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Luna, V. M. Articles by Schoppa, N. E.

 Previous Article

Development/Plasticity/Repair
GABAergic Circuits Control Input–Spike Coupling in the Piriform Cortex

Victor M. Luna and Nathan E. Schoppa

Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado at Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, Colorado 80045

Correspondence should be addressed to Nathan E. Schoppa, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado at Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Mail Stop 8307, P.O. Box 6511, Aurora, CO 80045. Email: nathan.schoppa{at}uchsc.edu

Odor coding in mammals is widely believed to involve synchronized gamma frequency (30–70 Hz) oscillations in the first processing structure, the olfactory bulb. How such inputs are read in downstream cortical structures however is not known. Here we used patch-clamp recordings in rat piriform cortex slices to examine cellular mechanisms that shape how the cortex integrates inputs from bulb mitral cells. Electrical stimulation of mitral cell axons in the lateral olfactory tract (LOT) resulted in excitation of pyramidal cells (PCs), which was followed 10 ms later by inhibition that was highly reproducible between trials in its onset time. This inhibition was somatic in origin and appeared to be driven through a feedforward mechanism, wherein GABAergic interneurons were directly excited by mitral cell axons. The precise inhibition affected action potential firing in PCs in two distinct ways. First, by abruptly terminating PC excitation, it limited the PC response to each EPSP to exactly one, precisely timed action potential. In addition, inhibition limited the summation of EPSPs across time, such that PCs fired action potentials in strong preference for synchronized inputs arriving in a time window of <5 ms. Both mechanisms would help ensure that PCs respond faithfully and selectively to mitral cell inputs arriving as a synchronized gamma frequency pattern.

Key words: olfactory; piriform cortex; synchronization; GABA; mitral cell; inhibition

---

Received May 23, 2008; revised July 10, 2008; accepted July 31, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to Nathan E. Schoppa, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado at Denver, Anschutz Medical Campus, Mail Stop 8307, P.O. Box 6511, Aurora, CO 80045. Email: nathan.schoppa{at}uchsc.edu

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Young and Q.-Q. Sun GABAergic Inhibitory Interneurons in the Posterior Piriform Cortex of the GAD67-GFP Mouse Cereb Cortex, December 1, 2009; 19(12): 3011 - 3029. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. W. Johenning, P. S. Beed, T. Trimbuch, M. H. K. Bendels, J. Winterer, and D. Schmitz Dendritic Compartment and Neuronal Output Mode Determine Pathway-Specific Long-Term Potentiation in the Piriform Cortex J. Neurosci., October 28, 2009; 29(43): 13649 - 13661. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Epsztein, E. Sola, A. Represa, Y. Ben-Ari, and V. Crepel A Selective Interplay between Aberrant EPSPKA and INaP Reduces Spike Timing Precision in Dentate Granule Cells of Epileptic Rats Cereb Cortex, September 9, 2009; (2009) bhp156v2. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help