RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Shift in the Balance between Excitation and Inhibition during Sensory Adaptation of S1 Neurons
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 13320
OP 13330
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2646-08.2008
VO 28
IS 49
A1 Jaime E. Heiss
A1 Yonatan Katz
A1 Elad Ganmor
A1 Ilan Lampl
YR 2008
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/28/49/13320.abstract
AB Sustained stimulation of sensory organs results in adaptation of the neuronal response along the sensory pathway. Whether or not cortical adaptation affects equally excitation and inhibition is poorly understood. We examined this question using patch recordings of neurons in the barrel cortex of anesthetized rats while repetitively stimulating the principal whisker. We found that inhibition adapts more than excitation, causing the balance between them to shift toward excitation. A comparison of the latency of thalamic firing and evoked excitation and inhibition in the cortex strongly suggests that adaptation of inhibition results mostly from depression of inhibitory synapses rather than adaptation in the firing of inhibitory cells. The differential adaptation of the evoked conductances that shifts the balance toward excitation may act as a gain mechanism which enhances the subthreshold response during sustained stimulation, despite a large reduction in excitation.