Reduced Inhibition within Layer IV of Sert Knockout Rat Barrel Cortex is Associated with Faster Sensory Integration.

ABSTRACT: Neural activity is essential for the maturation of sensory systems. In the rodent primary somatosensory cortex (S1), high extracellular serotonin (5-HT) levels during development impair neural transmission between the thalamus and cortical input layer IV (LIV). Rodent models of impaired 5-HT transporter (SERT) function show disruption in their topological organization of S1 and in the expression of activity-regulated genes essential for inhibitory cortical network formation. It remains unclear how such alterations affect the sensory information processing within cortical LIV. Using serotonin transporter knockout (Sert-/-) rats, we demonstrate that high extracellular serotonin levels are associated with impaired feedforward inhibition (FFI), fewer perisomatic inhibitory synapses, a depolari

SUBMITTER: Miceli S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5390402 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature