electrotonic coupling between pyramidal neurons in the neocortex电紧张的大脑皮层锥体神经元之间的耦合.pdfVIP

Electrotonic Coupling between Pyramidal Neurons in the Neocortex 1,2 1 1 Yun Wang *, Amey Barakat , Hongwei Zhou 1 Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02135, USA, 2 School of Optometry Ophthalmology, Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325027, P.R.China Abstract Electrotonic couplings (i.e., electrical synapses or gap junctions) are fundamental to neuronal synchronization, and thus essential for many physiological functions and pathological disorders. Interneuron electrical synapses have been studied intensively. Although studies on electrotonic couplings between pyramidal cells (PCs) are emerging, particularly in the hippocampus, evidence is still rare in the neocortex. The electrotonic coupling of PCs in the neocortex is therefore largely unknown in terms of electrophysiological, anatomical and synaptological properties. Using multiple patch-clamp recording with differential interference contrast infrared videomicroscopy (IR-DIC) visualization, histochemical staining, and 3D- computer reconstruction, electrotonic coupling was recorded between close PCs, mainly in the medial prefrontal cortex as well as in the visual cortical regions of ferrets and rats. Compared with interneuron gap junctions, these electrotonic couplings were characterized by several special features. The recording probability of an electrotonic coupling between PCs is extremely low; but the junctional conductance is notably high, permitting the direct transmission of action potentials (APs) and even tonic firing between coupled neurons. AP firing is therefore perfectly synchronized between coupled PCs; Postjunctional APs and spikelets alternate following slight changes of membrane potential