Glutamate transmission rather than cellular pacemaking propels excitatory-inhibitory resonance for ictogenesis in amygdala.

Glutamate transmission rather than cellular pacemaking propels excitatory-inhibitory resonance for ictogenesis in amygdala.
Neurobiol Dis. 2020 Nov 19;:105188
Authors: Wang GH, Chou P, Hsueh SW, Yang YC, Kuo CC
Abstract
Epileptic seizures are automatic, excessive, and synchronized neuronal activities originating from many brain regions especially including the amygdala, the allocortices and neocortices. This may reflect a shared principle for network organization and signaling in these telencephalic structures. In theory, the automaticity of epileptic discharges may stem from spontaneously active "oscillator" neurons equipped with intrinsic pacemaking conductances, or from a group of synaptically-connected collaborating "resonator" neurons. In the basolateral amygdalar (BLA) network of pyramidal-inhibitory (PN-IN) neuronal resonators, we demonstrated that rhythmogenic currents are provided by glutamatergic rather than the classic intrinsic or cellular pacemaking conductances (namely the h currents). The excitatory output of glutamatergic neurons such as PNs presumably propels a novel network-based "relay burst mode" of discharges especially in INs, which precondition PNs into a state prone to burst discharges and thus further glutamate release. Also, selective activation of unilateral PNs, but never INs, readily drives bilateral BLA networks into reverberating discharges which are fully synchronized with the behavioral manifestations...

Source: Neurobiology of Disease - November 19, 2020 Category: Neurology Authors: Wang GH, Chou P, Hsueh SW, Yang YC, Kuo CC Tags: Neurobiol Dis Source Type: research