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The behaviour-contingent rhythmic synchronization of neuronal activity is reported by local field potential oscillations in the theta, gamma and sharp wave-related ripple (SWR) frequency ranges. In the hippocampus, pyramidal cell assemblies representing temporal sequences are coordinated by GABAergic interneurons selectively innervating specific postsynaptic domains, and discharging phase locked to network oscillations. We compare the cellular network dynamics in the CA1 and CA3 areas recorded with or without anaesthesia. All parts of pyramidal cells, except the axon initial segment, receive GABA from multiple interneuron types, each with distinct firing dynamics. The axon initial segment is exclusively innervated by axo-axonic cells, preferentially firing after the peak of the pyramidal layer theta cycle, when pyramidal cells are least active. Axo-axonic cells are inhibited during SWRs, when many pyramidal cells fire synchronously. This dual inverse correlation demonstrates the key inhibitory role of axo-axonic cells. Parvalbumin-expressing basket cells fire phase locked to field gamma activity in both CA1 and CA3, and also strongly increase firing during SWRs, together with dendrite-innervating bistratified cells, phasing pyramidal cell discharge. Subcellular domain-specific GABAergic innervation probably developed for the coordination of multiple glutamatergic inputs on different parts of pyramidal cells through the temporally distinct activity of GABAergic interneurons, which differentially change their firing during different network states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hippocampal CA3 area generates temporally structured network activity such as sharp waves and gamma and theta oscillations. Parvalbumin-expressing basket cells, making GABAergic synapses onto cell bodies and proximal dendrites of pyramidal cells, control pyramidal cell activity and participate in network oscillations in slice preparations, but their roles in vivo remain to be tested. We have recorded the spike timing of parvalbumin-expressing basket cells in areas CA2/3 of anesthetized rats in relation to CA3 putative pyrami-dal cell firing and activity locally and in area CAI. During theta oscillations, CA2/3 basket cells fired on the same phase as putative pyramidal cells, but, surprisingly, significantly later than downstream CAI basket cells. This indicates a distinct modulation of CA3 and CAI pyramidal cells by basket cells, which receive different inputs. We observed unexpectedly large dendritic arborization of CA2/3 basket cells in stratum lacunosum moleculare (33% of length, 29% surface, and 24% synaptic input from a total of ~ 35,000), different from the dendritic arborizations of CAI basket cells. Area CA2/3 basket cells fired phase locked to both CA2/3 and CA1 gamma oscilla-tions, and increased firing during CA 1 sharp waves, thus supporting the role of CA3 networks in the generation of gamma oscillations and sharp waves. However, during ripples associated with sharp waves, firing of CA2/3 basket cells was phase locked only to local but not CA1 ripples, suggesting the independent generation of fast oscillations by basket cells in CA1 and CA2/3. The distinct spike timing of basket cells during oscillations in CA1 and CA2/3 suggests differences in synaptic inputs paralleled by differences in dendritic arborizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large variety of GABAergic interneurons control information processing in the hippocampal circuits governing the formation of neuronal representations. Whether distinct hippocampal interneuron types contribute differentially to information processing during behavior is not known. We employed a new technique for recording and labeling interneurons and pyramidal cells in drug-free, freely moving rats. Recorded parvalbumin-expressing basket interneurons innervated somata and proximal pyramidal cell dendrites, whereas nitric oxide synthase- and neuropeptide Y-expressing ivy cells provided synaptic and extrasynaptic dendritic modulation. Basket and ivy cells showed distinct spike-timing dynamics, firing at different rates and times during theta and ripple oscillations. Basket, but not ivy, cells changed their firing rates during movement, sleep and quiet wakefulness, suggesting that basket cells coordinate cell assemblies in a behavioral state-contingent manner, whereas persistently firing ivy cells might control network excitability and homeostasis. Different interneuron types provide GABA to specific subcellular domains at defined times and rates, thereby differentially controlling network activity during behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two main glutamatergic pathways to the CA1 area, the Schaffer collateral/commissural input and the entorhinal fibers, as well as the local axons of CA1 pyramidal cells innervate both pyramidal cells and interneurons. To determine whether these inputs differ in their weights of activating GABAergic circuits, we have studied the relative proportion of pyramidal cells and interneurons among their postsynaptic targets in serial electron microscopic sections. Local axons of CA1 pyramidal cells, intracellularly labeled in vitro or in vivo, innervated a relatively high proportion of interneuronal postsynaptic targets (65.9 and 53.8%, in vitro and in vivo, respectively) in stratum (str.) oriens and alveus. In contrast, axons of in vitro labeled CA3 pyramidal cells in str. oriens and str. radiatum of the CA1 area made synaptic junctions predominantly with pyramidal cell spines (92.9%). The postsynaptic targets of anterogradely labeled medial entorhinal cortical boutons in CA1 str. lacunosum-moleculare were primarily pyramidal neuron dendritic spines and shafts (90.8%). The alvear group of the entorhinal afferents, traversing str. oriens, str. pyramidale, and str. radiatum showed a higher preference for innervating GABAergic cells (21.3%), particularly in str. oriens/alveus. These data demonstrate that different glutamatergic pathways innervate CA1 GABAergic cells to different extents. The results suggest that the numerically smaller CA1 local axonal inputs together with the alvear part of the entorhinal input preferentially act on GABAergic interneurons in contrast to the CA3, or the entorhinal input in str. lacunosum-moleculare. The results highlight differences in the postsynaptic target selection of the feed-forward versus recurrent glutamatergic inputs to the CA1 and CA3 areas. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COUP-TFII nuclear receptor, also known as NR2F2, is expressed in the developing ventral telencephalon and modulates the tangential migration of a set of subpallial neuronal progenitors during forebrain development. Little information is available about its expression patterns in the adult brain. We have identified the cell populations expressing COUP-TFII and the contribution of some of them to network activity in vivo. Expression of COUP-TFII by hippocampal pyramidal and dentate granule cells, as well as neuronsin the neocortex, formeda gradient increasing from undetectable in the dorsal to very strong in the ventral sectors .In the dorsal hippocampal CA1 area, COUP-TFII was restricted to GABA ergic interneurons and expressed in several, largely nonoverlapping neuronal populations. Immuno reactivity was present in calretinin-, neuronal nitric oxide synthase-, and reelin-expressing cells, as well as in subsets of cholecystokinin- or calbindin-expressing or radiatum-retro hippo campally projecting GABA ergic cells, but not in parvalbumin- and/or somatostatin-expressing interneurons. In vivo recording and juxta cellular labeling of COUP-TFII-expressing cells revealed neuroglia form cells, basket cells in stratum radiatum and tachykinin-expressing radiatum dentate innervating interneurons, identified by their axodendritic distributions. They showed cell type-selective phase-locked firing to the theta rhythm but no activation during sharp wave/ripple oscillations. These basket cells in stratum radiatum and neurogliaform cells fired at the peak of theta oscillations detected extracellularly in stratum pyramidale, unlike previously reported ivy cells, which fired at the trough. The characterization of COUP-TFII-expressing neurons suggests that this developmentally important transcription factor plays cell type-specific role(s) in the adult hippocampus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cortical gamma oscillations contribute to cognitive processing and are thought to be supported by perisomatic-innervating GABAergic interneurons. We performed extracellular recordings of identified interneurons in the hippocampal CA1 area of anesthetized rats, revealing that the firing patterns of five distinct interneuron types are differentially correlated to spontaneous gamma oscillations. The firing of bistratified cells, which target dendrites of pyramidal cells coaligned with the glutamatergic input from hippocampal area CA3, is strongly phase locked to field gamma oscillations. Parvalbumin-expressing basket, axo-axonic, and cholecystokinin-expressing interneurons exhibit moderate gamma modulation, whereas the spike timing of distal dendrite-innervating oriens-lacunosum moleculare interneurons is not correlated to field gamma oscillations. Cholecystokinin-expressing interneurons fire earliest in the gamma cycle, a finding that is consistent with their suggested function of thresholding individual pyramidal cells. Furthermore, we show that field gamma amplitude correlates with interneuronal spike-timing precision and firing rate. Overall, our recordings suggest that gamma synchronization in vivo is assisted by temporal- and domain-specific GABAergic inputs to pyramidal cells and is initiated in pyramidal cell dendrites in addition to somata and axon initial segments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the hippocampal CA1 area, a relatively homogenous population of pyramidal cells is accompanied by a diversity of GABAergic interneurons. Previously, we found that parvalbumin-expressing basket, axo-axonic, bistratified, and oriens-lacunosum moleculare cells, innervating different domains of pyramidal cells, have distinct firing patterns during network oscillations in vivo. A second family of interneurons, expressing cholecystokinin but not parvalbumin, is known to target the same domains of pyramidal cells as do the parvalbumin cells. To test the temporal activity of these independent and parallel GABAergic inputs, we recorded the precise spike timing of identified cholecystokinin interneurons during hippocampal network oscillations in anesthetized rats and determined their molecular expression profiles and synaptic targets. The cells were cannabinoid receptor type 1 immunopositive. Contrary to the stereotyped firing of parvalbumin interneurons, cholecystokinin-expressing basket and dendrite-innervating cells discharge, on average, with 1.7±2.0 Hz during high-frequency ripple oscillations in an episode-dependent manner. During theta oscillations, cholecystokinin-expressing interneurons fire with 8.8±3.3 Hz at a characteristic time on the ascending phase of theta waves (155±81°), when place cells start firing in freely moving animals. The firing patterns of some interneurons recorded in drug-free behaving rats were similar to cholecystokinin cells in anesthetized animals. Our results demonstrate that cholecystokinin- and parvalbumin-expressing interneurons make different contributions to network oscillations and play distinct roles in different brain states. We suggest that the specific spike timing of cholecystokinin interneurons and their sensitivity to endocannabinoids might contribute to differentiate subgroups of pyramidal cells forming neuronal assemblies, whereas parvalbumin interneurons contribute to synchronizing the entire network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavior-contingent network oscillations bring about transient, functionally coherent neuronal assemblies in the cerebral cortex, including the hippocampus. Inhibitory input on and close to the soma is believed to phase intrinsic oscillations and output of pyramidal cells, but the function of GABA release to pyramidal cell dendrites remains unknown. We recorded the oscillation-locked spike timing of identified bistratified interneurons in rats. These cells mainly innervated small dendritic shafts of pyramidal cells co-aligned with the glutamatergic Schaffer collateral/commissural input. During theta oscillations, bistratified cells fired at a phase when, on average, pyramidal cell dendrites are most hyperpolarized. Interneurons targeting the perisomatic domain discharge at an earlier phase. During sharp wave-associated ripples, bistratified cells fired with high frequency and in-phase with basket cells, on average 1-2 ms after the discharges in pyramidal cell somata and dendrites. Our results indicate that bistratified cells rhythmically modulate glutamatergic input to the dendrites of pyramidal cells to actively promote the precise input/output transformation during network oscillations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]