Synaptic integration is a prominent aspect of neuronal information processing. The detailed mechanisms that modulate synaptic inputs determine the computational properties any given neuron. We study simple model for summation excitatory from synapses and illustrate its use by characterizing some functional postsynaptic neurons. In this regard, we response neurons as defined to two well known no...

Neurons in the dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus (DNLL) receive excitatory and inhibitory inputs from the superior olivary complex (SOC) and convey GABAergic inhibition to the contralateral DNLL and the inferior colliculi. Unlike the fast glycinergic inhibition in the SOC, this GABAergic inhibition outlasts auditory stimulation by tens of milliseconds. Two mechanisms have been postulated ...

Neurobehavioral disorders are increasingly prevalent in children, however their etiology is not well understood. An association between prenatal cellular telephone use and hyperactivity in children has been postulated, yet the direct effects of radiofrequency radiation exposure on neurodevelopment remain unknown. Here we used a mouse model to demonstrate that in-utero radiofrequency exposure fr...

Excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) at the parallel fiber and climbing fiber to Purkinje cell synapses were studied by whole-cell clamping Purkinje cells in cerebellar slices. Reducing glutamate release with adenosine or GABA decreased the amplitude of the EPSCs, with a larger suppression being produced at the parallel fiber synapse. Reducing glutamate release also speeded the decay of the...

The endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) functions as a retrograde signaling molecule mediating synaptic transmission and plasticity at both inhibitory and excitatory synapses. However, little is known about whether 2-AG signaling is involved in homeostatic regulation of miniature synaptic events at excitatory synapses in response to activity deprivation. Here, we report that chronic b...

Spiny neurons in the neostriatum are highly vulnerable to ischemia. Enhancement of excitatory synaptic transmissions has been implicated in ischemia-induced excitotoxic neuronal death. Here we report that evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents in spiny neurons were potentiated after transient forebrain ischemia. The ischemia-induced potentiation in synaptic efficacy was associated with an enha...

There is growing evidence that stress leads to contrasting patterns of structural plasticity in the hippocampus and amygdala, two brain areas implicated in the cognitive and affective symptoms of stress-related psychiatric disorders. Acute stress has been shown to trigger a delayed increase in the density of dendritic spines in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) of rodents. However, the physiologic...

We have explored the mechanisms involved in the facilitation of glutamate release mediated by the activation of kainate receptors in the rat hippocampus using isolated nerve terminal (synaptosome) and slice preparations. In hippocampal nerve terminals, kainate (KA) produced an increase of glutamate release at concentrations of agonist ranging from 10 to 1000 microm. In hippocampal slices, KA at...

It has been proposed, but not directly tested, that persistent inflammatory nociception enhances excitatory glutamatergic inputs to neurons in the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM), altering the activity and function of these neurons. This study used whole cell patch-clamp methods to record evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents (eEPSCs) in spinally projecting RVM neurons from rats injected w...

Nicotinic receptors play an important role in modulating the activity of parasympathetic cardiac vagal neurons in the medulla. Previous work has shown nicotine acts via at least three mechanisms to excite brain stem premotor cardiac vagal neurons. Nicotine evokes a direct increase in holding current and facilitates both the frequency and amplitude of glutamatergic neurotransmission to cardiac v...