Open AccessDual face of axonal inhibitory inputs in the modulation of neuronal excitability in cortical pyramidal neurons
Author(s) -
Lei Jiang,
Ní Hóng,
Qiyi Wang,
Li Huang,
S. J. Zhao,
Jianan Yu,
Rongjing Ge
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
neural regeneration research/neural regeneration research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.93
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1876-7958
pISSN - 1673-5374
DOI - 10.4103/1673-5374.211186
Subject(s) - inhibitory postsynaptic potential , neuroscience , axon , depolarization , premovement neuronal activity , biological neural network , cortical neurons , excitatory postsynaptic potential , electrophysiology , neuron , spike (software development) , biology , computer science , biophysics , software engineering
Limited by the tiny structure of axons, the effects of these axonal hyperpolarizing inputs on neuronal activity have not been directly elucidated. Here, we imitated these processes by simultaneously recording the activities of the somas and proximal axons of cortical pyramidal neurons. We found that spikes and subthreshold potentials propagate between somas and axons with high fidelity. Furthermore, inhibitory inputs on axons have opposite effects on neuronal activity according to their temporal integration with upstream signals. Concurrent with somatic depolarization, inhibitory inputs on axons decrease neuronal excitability and impede spike generation. In addition, following action potentials, inhibitory inputs on an axon increase neuronal spike capacity and improve spike precision. These results indicate that inhibitory inputs on proximal axons have dual regulatory functions in neuronal activity (suppression or facilitation) according to neuronal network patterns.