Tonic GABAA conductance decreases membrane time constant and increases EPSP-spike precision in hippocampal pyramidal neurons.

ABSTRACT: Because of a complex dendritic structure, pyramidal neurons have a large membrane surface relative to other cells and so a large electrical capacitance and a large membrane time constant (τm). This results in slow depolarizations in response to excitatory synaptic inputs, and consequently increased and variable action potential latencies, which may be computationally undesirable. Tonic activation of GABAA receptors increases membrane conductance and thus regulates neuronal excitability by shunting inhibition. In addition, tonic increases in membrane conductance decrease the membrane time constant (τm), and improve the temporal fidelity of neuronal firing. Here we performed whole-cell current clamp recordings from hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons and found that bath application of 10μM GAB

SUBMITTER: Wlodarczyk AI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3872325 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature