Cortical afferents onto the nucleus Reticularis thalami promote plasticity of low-threshold excitability through GluN2C-NMDARs.

ABSTRACT: Thalamus and cortex represent a highly integrated processing unit that elaborates sensory representations. Interposed between cortex and thalamus, the nucleus Reticularis thalami (nRt) receives strong cortical glutamatergic input and mediates top-down inhibitory feedback to thalamus. Despite growing appreciation that the nRt is integral for thalamocortical functions from sleep to attentional wakefulness, we still face considerable gaps in the synaptic bases for cortico-nRt communication and plastic regulation. Here, we examined modulation of nRt excitability by cortical synaptic drive in Ntsr1-Cre x ChR2^tg/+ mice expressing Channelrhodopsin2 in layer 6 corticothalamic cells. We found that cortico-nRt synapses express a major portion of NMDA receptors containing the GluN2C subuni

SUBMITTER: Fernandez LMJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5612942 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature