Multiple and plastic receptors mediate tonic GABAA receptor currents in the hippocampus.

ABSTRACT: Persistent activation of GABAA receptors by extracellular GABA (tonic inhibition) plays a critical role in signal processing and network excitability in the brain. In hippocampal principal cells, tonic inhibition has been reported to be mediated by alpha5-subunit-containing GABAA receptors (alpha5GABAARs). Pharmacological or genetic disruption of these receptors improves cognitive performance, suggesting that tonic inhibition has an adverse effect on information processing. Here, we show that alpha5GABAARs contribute to tonic currents in pyramidal cells only when ambient GABA concentrations increase (as may occur during increased brain activity). At low ambient GABA concentrations, activation of delta-subunit-containing GABAA receptors predominates. In epileptic tissue, alpha5GABAARs are d

SUBMITTER: Scimemi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6725560 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature