Distinct Determinants of Sparse Activation during Granule Cell Maturation

By Cristina V. Dieni, Angela K. Nietz, R. Panichi, Jacques I. Wadiche, Linda Overstreet-Wadiche. 2013

103 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Adult neurogenesis continually produces a small population of immature granule cells (GCs) within the dentate gyrus. The physiological properties of immature GCs distinguish them from the more numerous mature GCs and potentially enables distinct network functions. To test how the changing properties of developing GCs affect spiking behavior, we examined synaptic responses of mature and immature GCs in hippocampal slices from adult mice. Whereas synaptic inhibition restricted GC spiking at most stages of maturation, the relative influence of inhibition, excitatory synaptic drive, and intrinsic excitability shifted over the course of maturation. Mature GCs received profuse afferent innervation such that spiking was suppressed primarily by inhibition, whereas immature GC spiking was also limited by the strength of excitatory drive. Although the input resistance was a reliable indicator of maturation, it did not determine spiking probability at immature stages. Our results confirm the existence of a transient period during GC maturation when perforant path stimulation can generate a high probability of spiking, but also reveal that immature GC excitability is tempered by functional synaptic inhibition and reduced excitatory innervation, likely maintaining the sparse population activity observed in vivo.

Subfields: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Neuroscience

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Citations in the corpus

Re-evaluating circuit mechanisms underlying pattern separation (2019, neutral): “, 2016) receive reduced synaptic inhibition (Li et al., 2012; Marin-Burgin et al., 2012; Dieni et al., 2013).”
Constitutive and Synaptic Activation of GIRK Channels Differentiates Mature and Newborn Dentate Granule Cells (2018, background): “This analysis showed that the synaptic GIRK current first appears in developing GCs with an input resistance between 1 and 2 G , a functional stage achieved, on average, 3 weeks after mitosis (Mongiat et al., 2009; Dieni et al., 2013b; Heigele et al., 2016).”
Distinct Contribution of Adult-Born Hippocampal Granule Cells to Context Encoding (2016, unknown): “Brain slice preparations have provided additional insight into the possible mechanisms by which they may uniquely influence circuit function (Dieni et al., 2013; Marı́n-Burgin et al., 2012; Temprana et al., 2015; van Praag et al., 2002).”
The role of adult hippocampal neurogenesis in brain health and disease (2018, background): “Immature neurons receive less inhibition but also lower excitatory drive than mature cells [45].”