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Cortical neuron sensitivity to neurotransmitters following neonatal noradrenaline depletion
Author(s) -
Mirmiran M.,
Dijcks F. A.,
Bos N. P. A.,
Gorter J. A.,
Van der Werf D.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
international journal of developmental neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.761
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1873-474X
pISSN - 0736-5748
DOI - 10.1016/0736-5748(90)90014-s
Subject(s) - clonidine , gabaergic , glutamate receptor , cerebral cortex , neuroscience , medicine , endocrinology , neuron , neurotransmitter , norepinephrine , psychology , inhibitory postsynaptic potential , central nervous system , dopamine , receptor
In order to test the functional significance of rapid eye movement (REM)‐sleep and noradrenergic activity for cerebral cortex maturation, rat pups were daily injected with clonidine from 8 to 21 days of life. Previous studies have shown that this treatment reduces the amount of time spent in REM‐sleep and the level of noradrenaline turnover in the brain. For long‐term consequences of such treatment in adulthood, cortical neuron responses to micro‐iontophoretically applied neurotransmitters were studied. No significant differences were found in the single cell responses to glutamate, GABA or noradrenaline in the cerebral cortex of clonidine treated rats as compared with age matched controls. However, the magnitude of GABAergic depression of glutamate induced neuronal responses was greater in the clonidine than in the control group.