Glutamatergic synaptic currents of nigral dopaminergic neurons follow a postnatal developmental sequence.

ABSTRACT: The spontaneous activity pattern of adult dopaminergic (DA) neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) results from interactions between intrinsic membrane conductances and afferent inputs. In adult SNc DA neurons, low-frequency tonic background activity is generated by intrinsic pacemaker mechanisms, whereas burst generation depends on intact synaptic inputs in particular the glutamatergic ones. Tonic DA release in the striatum during pacemaking is required to maintain motor activity, and burst firing evokes phasic DA release, necessary for cue-dependent learning tasks. However, it is still unknown how the firing properties of SNc DA neurons mature during postnatal development before reaching the adult state. We studied the postnatal developmental profile of spontaneous and evoke

SUBMITTER: Pearlstein E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4448554 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature