HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 95/3/2007    most recent 00220.2005v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by van Welie, I. Articles by Wadman, W. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by van Welie, I. Articles by Wadman, W. J.

REPORT

Background Activity Regulates Excitability of Rat Hippocampal CA1 Pyramidal Neurons by Adaptation of a K⁺ Conductance

Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Submitted 1 March 2005; accepted in final form 18 November 2005

In the in vivo brain background synaptic activity has a strong modulatory influence on neuronal excitability. Here we report that in rat hippocampal slices, blockade of endogenous in vitro background activity results in an increased excitability of CA1 pyramidal neurons within tens of minutes. The increase in excitability constitutes a leftward shift in the input–output relationship of pyramidal neurons, indicating a reduced threshold for the induction of action potentials. The increase in excitability results from an adaptive decrease in a sustained K⁺ conductance, as recorded from somatic cell–attached patches. After 20 min of blockade of background activity, the mean sustained K⁺ current amplitude in somatic patches was reduced to 46 ± 9% of that in time-matched control patches. Blockade of background activity did not affect fast Na⁺ conductance. Together, these results suggests that the reduction in K⁺ conductance serves as an adaptive mechanism to increase the excitability of CA1 pyramidal neurons in response to changes in background activity such that the dynamic range of the input–output relationship is effectively maintained.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. J. Sjostrom, E. A. Rancz, A. Roth, and M. Hausser Dendritic Excitability and Synaptic Plasticity Physiol Rev, April 1, 2008; 88(2): 769 - 840. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. R. Gibson, A. F. Bartley, and K. M. Huber Role for the Subthreshold Currents ILeak and IH in the Homeostatic Control of Excitability in Neocortical Somatostatin-Positive Inhibitory Neurons J Neurophysiol, July 1, 2006; 96(1): 420 - 432. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]