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Effects of excitatory and inhibitory amino acids on phasic respiratory neurons
Author(s) -
Toleikis J. R.,
Wang L.,
Boyarsky L. L.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of neuroscience research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.72
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1097-4547
pISSN - 0360-4012
DOI - 10.1002/jnr.490040310
Subject(s) - inhibitory postsynaptic potential , excitatory postsynaptic potential , glutamate receptor , glycine , neurotransmitter , brainstem , neuroscience , gamma aminobutyric acid , chemistry , glycine receptor , nmda receptor , amino acid , pharmacology , biology , biochemistry , central nervous system , receptor
The responsiveness of phasically active brainstem respiratory neurons to several amino acids was investigated in cats under Dial anesthesia. Four‐barreled microelectrodes were used to extrude iontophoretically the putative neurotransmitters L‐glutamate, L‐aspartate, glycine, and gamma‐aminobutyric acid (GABA). L‐glutamate and L‐aspartate caused increased activity when applied to either inspiratory or expiratory neurons and appeared to be equal in efficacy. Likewise, GABA and glycine depressed ongoing phasic neural activity of both inspiratory and expiratory units. In this case, however, the dosage of GABA required to produce a given depression was significantly less than the required dosage of glycine. These findings support the hypothesis that L‐glutamate and/or L‐aspartate may act as excitatory neurotransmitter agents at the synapses of brainstem respiratory neurons and conversely, GABA may act as the natural inhibitory neurotransmitter.