Membrane resonance and its ionic mechanisms in rat subthalamic nucleus neurons

Zhi Qiang Yan, Shao Ming Liu, Jiang Li, Yuan Wang, Li Gao, Rou Gang Xie, Wei Ning Xue, Guang Lin Zhang, Jun Ling Zhu, Guo Dong Gao*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

The oscillatory activity in the basal ganglia is believed to have an important function, but little is known about its actual mechanisms. We studied the resonance characteristics of subthalamic nucleus (STN) neurons and their ionic mechanisms using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in rat brain slices. A swept-sine-wave current with constant amplitude and linearly increasing frequency was applied to measure the resonance frequency (f res) of STN neurons. We also used single-frequency sine wave current to evoke firing. We found that the resonance of STN neurons was temperature- and voltage-dependent. The f res of STN neurons was about 4Hz when the temperature was maintained at 38°C and holding potential was at -70mV. The f res increased with more negative holding potentials and decreased with lower temperature. Action potentials fired most readily when the input frequency was near f res. After application of drug ZD7288 (20μM), the resonance of STN neurons was blocked and the spikes evoked by both impedance amplitude profile (ZAP) current and single-frequency sine wave current arose readily at the lowest frequencies, indicating that hyperpolarization-activated cation current (I h) generated the resonance and mediated a preferential coupling at frequencies near f res between inputs and firing. In conclusion, there is a θ-frequency resonance mediated by I h in STN neurons. The resonance characteristics are temperature- and voltage-dependent. The resonance mediates a frequency-selective coupling between inputs and firing.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)160-165
Number of pages6
JournalNeuroscience Letters
Volume506
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 6 2012

Keywords

  • Hyperpolarization-activated cation current
  • Resonance
  • Subthalamic nucleus neurons

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Membrane resonance and its ionic mechanisms in rat subthalamic nucleus neurons'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this