Enhanced excitatory synaptic transmission in spiny neurons of rat striatum after unilateral dopamine denervation

The synaptic transmission and intrinsic membrane properties of spiny neurons in rat neostriatum were studied after unilateral dopamine depletion using in vivo intracellular recording and staining techniques. Two to four weeks after dopamine denervation, the spontaneous firing rate of spiny neurons i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuroscience letters 2001-08, Vol.308 (3), p.201-205
Main Authors: Pang, Zhiping, Ling, Guang Y., Gajendiran, Mahadevan, Xu, Zao C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Cell Size
Central nervous system
Corpus Striatum - cytology
Corpus Striatum - physiology
Denervation
Dopamine
Dopamine - physiology
Electrophysiology
Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials - physiology
Excitatory synaptic transmission
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Intracellular recordings
Male
Neurons - physiology
Oxidopamine
Rats
Rats, Wistar
Spiny neuron
spiny neurons
Striatum
Sympatholytics
Synaptic Transmission - physiology
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
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Summary:The synaptic transmission and intrinsic membrane properties of spiny neurons in rat neostriatum were studied after unilateral dopamine depletion using in vivo intracellular recording and staining techniques. Two to four weeks after dopamine denervation, the spontaneous firing rate of spiny neurons increased and the spontaneous membrane potential fluctuation stayed at a more depolarized state for longer periods of time. The amplitude of cortically evoked initial excitatory postsynaptic potentials increased and a late excitatory postsynaptic potential that was occasionally found in control neurons was elicited from 23% of spiny neurons after dopamine denervation. No significant changes in intrinsic membrane properties of spiny neurons were observed after dopamine denervation. These results suggest that dopamine inhibits excitatory synaptic transmission of spiny neurons in naı̈ve animals.
ISSN:0304-3940
1872-7972
DOI:10.1016/S0304-3940(01)02031-6