@article {Jung3312, author = {Hae-yoon Jung and Nathan P. Staff and Nelson Spruston}, title = {Action Potential Bursting in Subicular Pyramidal Neurons Is Driven by a Calcium Tail Current}, volume = {21}, number = {10}, pages = {3312--3321}, year = {2001}, doi = {10.1523/JNEUROSCI.21-10-03312.2001}, publisher = {Society for Neuroscience}, abstract = {Subiculum is the primary output area of the hippocampus and serves as a key relay center in the process of memory formation and retrieval. A majority of subicular pyramidal neurons communicate via bursts of action potentials, a mode of signaling that may enhance the fidelity of information transfer and synaptic plasticity or contribute to epilepsy when unchecked. In the present study, we show that a Ca2+ tail current drives bursting in subicular pyramidal neurons. An action potential activates voltage-activated Ca2+ channels, which deactivate slowly enough during action potential repolarization to produce an afterdepolarization that triggers subsequent action potentials in the burst. The Ca2+ channels underlying bursting are located primarily near the soma, and the amplitude of Ca2+tail currents correlates with the strength of bursting across cells. Multiple channel subtypes contribute to Ca2+ tail current, but the need for an action potential to produce the slow depolarization suggests a central role for high-voltage-activated Ca2+ channels in subicular neuron bursting.}, issn = {0270-6474}, URL = {https://www.jneurosci.org/content/21/10/3312}, eprint = {https://www.jneurosci.org/content/21/10/3312.full.pdf}, journal = {Journal of Neuroscience} }