PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Zemin Wang AU - Ryan Neely AU - Carole E. Landisman TI - Activation of Group I and Group II Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors Causes LTD and LTP of Electrical Synapses in the Rat Thalamic Reticular Nucleus AID - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3688-14.2015 DP - 2015 May 13 TA - The Journal of Neuroscience PG - 7616--7625 VI - 35 IP - 19 4099 - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/35/19/7616.short 4100 - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/35/19/7616.full SO - J. Neurosci.2015 May 13; 35 AB - Compared with the extensive characterization of chemical synaptic plasticity, electrical synaptic plasticity remains poorly understood. Electrical synapses are strong and prevalent among the GABAergic neurons of the rodent thalamic reticular nucleus. Using paired whole-cell recordings, we show that activation of Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) induces long-term depression of electrical synapses. Conversely, activation of the Group II mGluR, mGluR3, induces long-term potentiation of electrical synapses. By testing downstream targets, we show that modifications induced by both mGluR groups converge on the same signaling cascade—adenylyl cyclase to cAMP to protein kinase A—but with opposing effects. Furthermore, the magnitude of modification is inversely correlated to baseline coupling strength. Thus, electrical synapses, like their chemical counterparts, undergo both strengthening and weakening forms of plasticity, which should play a significant role in thalamocortical function.