RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 GABAergic Excitation in the Basolateral Amygdala
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 11881
OP 11887
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3389-06.2006
VO 26
IS 46
A1 Woodruff, Alan R.
A1 Monyer, Hannah
A1 Sah, Pankaj
YR 2006
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/26/46/11881.abstract
AB GABA-containing interneurons are a diverse population of cells whose primary mode of action in the mature nervous system is inhibition of postsynaptic target neurons. Using paired recordings from parvalbumin-positive interneurons in the basolateral amygdala, we show that, in a subpopulation of interneurons, single action potentials in one interneuron evoke in the postsynaptic interneuron a monosynaptic inhibitory synaptic current, followed by a disynaptic excitatory glutamatergic synaptic current. Interneuron-evoked glutamatergic events were blocked by antagonists of either AMPA/kainate or GABAA receptors, and could be seen concurrently in both presynaptic and postsynaptic interneurons. These results show that single action potentials in a GABAergic interneuron can drive glutamatergic principal neurons to threshold, resulting in both feedforward and feedback excitation. In interneuron pairs that both receive glutamatergic inputs after an interneuron spike, electrical coupling and bidirectional GABAergic connections occur with a higher probability relative to other interneuron pairs. We propose that this form of GABAergic excitation provides a means for the reliable and specific recruitment of homogeneous interneuron networks in the basal amygdala.