Long-term sensory deprivation selectively rearranges functional inhibitory circuits in mouse barrel cortex.

ABSTRACT: Long-term whisker removal alters the balance of excitation and inhibition in rodent barrel cortex, yet little is known about the contributions of individual cells and synapses in this process. We studied synaptic inhibition in four major types of neurons in live tangential slices that isolate layer 4 in the posteromedial barrel subfield. Voltage-clamp recordings of layer 4 neurons reveal that fast decay of synaptic inhibition requires alpha1-containing GABA(A) receptors. After 7 weeks of deprivation, we found that GABA(A)-receptor-mediated inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) in the inhibitory low-threshold-spiking (LTS) cell recorded in deprived barrels exhibited faster decay kinetics and larger amplitudes in whisker-deprived barrels than those in nondeprived barrels in age-matched co

SUBMITTER: Li P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2706689 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature