Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Inhibition by an excitatory conductance: a paradox explained

Ih is an excitatory inward current at subthreshold voltages, but enhancing Ih in CA1 pyramidal neurons leads to inhibition of action potential firing. A report in this issue suggests activation of the potassium current IM underlies this paradox.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: The anticonvulsant drug lamotrigine enhances Ih and depresses excitability in CA1 pyramidal neurons.

References

  1. George, M.S., Abbott, L.F. & Siegelbaum, S.A. Nat. Neurosci. 12, 577–584 (2009).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Magee, J.C. J. Neurosci. 18, 7613–7624 (1998).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Stuart, G. & Spruston, N. J. Neurosci. 18, 3501–3510 (1998).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Magee, J.C. Nat. Neurosci. 2, 508–514 (1999).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Poolos, N.P., Migliore, M. & Johnston, D. Nat. Neurosci. 5, 767–774 (2002).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. van Welie, I., van Hooft, J.A. & Wadman, W.J. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101, 5123–5128 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Fan, Y. et al. Nat. Neurosci. 8, 1542–1551 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Maccaferri, G., Mangoni, M., Lazzari, A. & DiFrancesco, D. J. Neurophysiol. 69, 2129–3 (1993).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Gasparini, S. & DiFrancesco, D. Pflugers Arch. 435, 99–106 (1997).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Gu, N., Vervaeke, K., Hu, H. & Storm, J.F. J. Physiol. (Lond.) 556, 689–715 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Shah, M.M., Anderson, A.E., Leung, V., Lin, X. & Johnston, D. Neuron 44, 495–508 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Yue, C. & Yaari, Y. J. Neurosci. 24, 4614–4624 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Jung, S. et al. J. Neurosci. 27, 13012–13021 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Porter, R.J., Nohria, V. & Rundfeldt, C. Neurotherapeutics 4, 149–154 (2007).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bean, B. Inhibition by an excitatory conductance: a paradox explained. Nat Neurosci 12, 530–532 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0509-530

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0509-530

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing