Cholinergic interneurons control the excitatory input to the striatum.

How the extent and time course of presynaptic inhibition depend on the action potentials of the neuron controlling the terminals is unknown. We investigated this issue in the striatum using paired recordings from cholinergic interneurons and projection neurons. Glutamatergic EPSCs were evoked in projection neurons and cholinergic interneurons by stimulation of afferent fibers in the cortex and the striatum, respectively.

VIP receptors control excitability of suprachiasmatic nuclei neurones.

The role of vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) receptors on excitable properties of neurones in slices acutely prepared from the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of wild-type (WT) and VPAC(2)-receptor-deficient (Vipr2 ( -/- )) mice was studied under voltage clamp with the use of patch-clamp recording in the whole-cell configuration. The resting membrane potential in Vipr2 ( -/- ) neurones was significantly hyperpolarised as compared to WT cells (-60+/-7 vs -72+/-6 mV, p<0.01).

Electrical synapses between Bergmann glial cells and Purkinje neurones in rat cerebellar slices.

In the present study, we directly demonstrated electrical coupling between Bergmann glial cells (BG) and Purkinje neurones (PN) in acutely isolated cerebellar slices, prepared from 15 to 30 days old Sprague-Dawley rats. Electrical coupling between these two cells was identified by dual whole-cell voltage clamp, which allowed direct recording of junctional current. Whole-cell recordings from PN-PN, PN-BG and BG-BG pairs were made using Nomarski optics and infrared visualisation, which allowed precise morphological identification of cells.

Neocortical long-term potentiation and experience-dependent synaptic plasticity require alpha-calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II autophosphorylation.

Experience-dependent plasticity can be induced in the barrel cortex by removing all but one whisker, leading to potentiation of the neuronal response to the spared whisker. To determine whether this form of potentiation depends on synaptic plasticity, we studied long-term potentiation (LTP) and sensory-evoked potentials in the barrel cortex of alpha-calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (alphaCaMKII)T286A mutant mice. We studied three different forms of LTP induction: theta-burst stimulation, spike pairing, and postsynaptic depolarization paired with low-frequency presynaptic stimulation.

Knockout of ERK1 MAP kinase enhances synaptic plasticity in the striatum and facilitates striatal-mediated learning and memory.

Extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK1 and 2) are synaptic signaling components necessary for several forms of learning. In mice lacking ERK1, we observe a dramatic enhancement of striatum-dependent long-term memory, which correlates with a facilitation of long-term potentiation in the nucleus accumbens. At the cellular level, we find that ablation of ERK1 results in a stimulus-dependent increase of ERK2 signaling, likely due to its enhanced interaction with the upstream kinase MEK.