Elsevier

Neurocomputing

Volumes 26–27, June 1999, Pages 101-106
Neurocomputing

Activity-dependent regulation of excitability in rat visual cortical neurons

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-2312(99)00004-1Get rights and content

Abstract

A neuron's electrical properties are produced by a variety of voltage- and time-dependent ionic conductances. Here we examine how activity deprivation affects the excitability and ionic currents of cultured cortical pyramidal neurons. Blocking activity for 48 h results in a marked increase in excitability, mediated by changes in sodium and persistent potassium currents. This finding suggests that neurons can control their firing rates by tuning their distribution of ionic conductances in response to changes in activity.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Lana C. Rutherford and Xiao-Jing Wang for help with the project. Financial support was provided by NIH, NSF, and the Sloan Foundation.

Niraj S. Desai received a Ph.D. in physics at Cornell University in 1995. Since then he has been a postdoctoral fellow in the neuroscience program at Brandeis University.

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Niraj S. Desai received a Ph.D. in physics at Cornell University in 1995. Since then he has been a postdoctoral fellow in the neuroscience program at Brandeis University.

Sacha B. Nelson received an M.D. and a Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of California-San Diego in 1991. He did his postdoctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1991–1994, and became an Assistant Professor of Biology at Brandeis in 1994.

Gina G. Turrigiano received a Ph.D. in neuroscience at UC-San Diego in 1990. She did her postdoctoral work at Brandeis in 1990–1994, and became an Assistant Professor of Biology at Brandeis in 1994.

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