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Critical role for inhibitory neurons in modulation of synaptic signaling in ex vivo neuronal networks
Author(s) -
Zemianek Jill M.,
Lee Sangmook,
Guaraldi Mary,
Shea Thomas B.
Publication year - 2013
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/j.ijdevneu.2013.03.011
Subject(s) - inhibitory postsynaptic potential , bicuculline , neuroscience , long term potentiation , stimulation , gabaergic , synaptic plasticity , biology , gabaa receptor , receptor , biochemistry
A number of laboratories have modeled aspects of synaptic plasticity using neuronal networks established on micro‐electrode arrays. Such studies demonstrate that external stimulation can increase or hasten maturation of network signaling as evidenced an increase in complex bursts. Herein, we demonstrate that repetitive stimulation with a recorded synaptic signal was capable of increasing overall signaling, including the percentage of bursts, over a 5‐day period, but that this increase was completely prevented by the presence of the GABAergic antagonist bicuculline. These findings demonstrate a critical role for inhibitory neurons in signal maturation following stimulation, which supports the purported role for inhibitory neuronal activity in long‐term potentiation and learning in situ .