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Neurogliaform cells dynamically regulate somatosensory integration via synapse-specific modulation

Nature Neuroscience volume 16, pages 13–15 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Despite the prevailing idea that neurogliaform cells produce a spatially unrestricted widespread inhibition, we demonstrate here that their activity attenuates thalamic-evoked feed-forward inhibition in layer IV barrel cortex but has no effect on feed-forward excitation. The result of this circuit selectivity is a dynamic regulation in the temporal window for integration of excitatory thalamic input, thus revealing a new role for neurogliaform cells in shaping sensory processing.

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Figure 1: Layer IV NGFC activity inhibits the canonical thalamic-evoked FFI via GABAB receptor activation.
Figure 2: NGFC activity does not affect thalamic-evoked excitatory input onto layer IV fast-spiking interneurons or stellate cells.

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Acknowledgements

We thank J. Isaac for comments, and M. Craig for the IGOR procedures used to automate analyses of the modeling data. This work was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Intramural Programs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Developmental Neurobiology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Ramesh Chittajallu, Kenneth A Pelkey & Chris J McBain

Authors
  1. Ramesh Chittajallu
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  2. Kenneth A Pelkey
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  3. Chris J McBain
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Contributions

R.C. conducted the experiments and data analyses. R.C., K.A.P. and C.J.M. designed the experiments. R.C. and C.J.M. wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Chris J McBain.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Chittajallu, R., Pelkey, K. & McBain, C. Neurogliaform cells dynamically regulate somatosensory integration via synapse-specific modulation. Nat Neurosci 16, 13–15 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.3284

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