Conditional Spike Transmission Mediated by Electrical Coupling Ensures Millisecond Precision-Correlated Activity among Interneurons In Vivo.

ABSTRACT: Many GABAergic interneurons are electrically coupled and in vitro can display correlated activity with millisecond precision. However, the mechanisms underlying correlated activity between interneurons in vivo are unknown. Using dual patch-clamp recordings in vivo, we reveal that in the presence of spontaneous background synaptic activity, electrically coupled cerebellar Golgi cells exhibit robust millisecond precision-correlated activity which is enhanced by sensory stimulation. This precisely correlated activity results from the cooperative action of two mechanisms. First, electrical coupling ensures slow subthreshold membrane potential correlations by equalizing membrane potential fluctuations, such that coupled neurons tend to approach action potential threshold together. Second, fast

SUBMITTER: van Welie I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4882376 | biostudies-literature | 2016 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature