Carbachol-Induced Reduction in the Activity of Adult Male Zebra Finch RA Projection Neurons

Neural Plasticity
Wei MengDong-Feng Li

Abstract

Cholinergic mechanism is involved in motor behavior. In songbirds, the robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA) is a song premotor nucleus in the pallium and receives cholinergic inputs from the basal forebrain. The activity of projection neurons in RA determines song motor behavior. Although many evidences suggest that cholinergic system is implicated in song production, the cholinergic modulation of RA is not clear until now. In the present study, the electrophysiological effects of carbachol, a nonselective cholinergic receptor agonist, were investigated on the RA projection neurons of adult male zebra finches through whole-cell patch-clamp techniques in vitro. Our results show that carbachol produced a significant decrease in the spontaneous and evoked action potential (AP) firing frequency of RA projection neurons, accompanying a hyperpolarization of the membrane potential, an increase in the evoked AP latency, afterhyperpolarization (AHP) peak amplitude, and AHP time to peak, and a decrease in the membrane input resistance, membrane time constant, and membrane capacitance. These results indicate that carbachol reduces the activity of RA projection neurons by hyperpolarizing the resting membrane potential and increasing the ...Continue Reading

References

Nov 1, 1987·The Journal of Physiology·D A McCormick, D A Prince
Apr 22, 1994·The Journal of Comparative Neurology·L Medina, A Reiner
Aug 15, 1995·European Journal of Pharmacology·J C PinedaE Galarraga
Apr 15, 1999·Annual Review of Neuroscience·A J Doupe, P K Kuhl
Nov 9, 2000·Journal of Neurophysiology·M A Farries, D J Perkel
Apr 29, 2004·Journal of Neuroscience Research·Rainer SurgesThomas J Feuerstein
Jul 21, 2004·Brain Research·Delanthi Salgado-CommissariatSantosh A Helekar
Aug 18, 2004·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·J Martin Wild
Aug 18, 2004·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·Erich D Jarvis
Dec 24, 2005·Journal of Neurophysiology·Michele M Solis, David J Perkel
Apr 11, 2007·The European Journal of Neuroscience·Lubica KubikovaErich D Jarvis
Oct 31, 2008·Journal of Neurophysiology·Jose Luis Nieto-GonzalezBlas Torres
May 22, 2009·The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience·John MeitzenDavid J Perkel
May 29, 2009·Journal of Neurophysiology·Meijun YeEdgar Garcia-Rill
Aug 23, 2012·Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience·Christopher I Petkov, Erich D Jarvis
May 16, 2014·The European Journal of Neuroscience·Michael K TianEvelyn K Lambe
Aug 4, 2015·Nature Neuroscience·W Hamish Mehaffey, Allison J Doupe
Sep 4, 2015·The Journal of Physiology·Dimitrios KadasCarsten Duch

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations


❮ Previous
Next ❯

Software Mentioned

pClamp
Origin Pro

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Basal Forebrain- Circuits

Basal forebrain is a region in the brain important for production of acetylcholine and is the major cholinergic output of the CNS. Discover the latest research on circuits in the basal forebrain here.

Basal Forebrain & Food Avoidance

Neurons in the basal forebrain play specific roles in regulating feeding. Here are the latest discoveries pertaining to the basal forebrain and food avoidance.