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Inhibition in the nervous system occurs when a neuron or circuit is rendered less likely to generate an action potential. It generally involves the release of an inhibitory neurotransmitter such as GABA, which acts to hyperpolarize a neuron and thus increase the threshold for depolarization and action potential generation.
Traditional systematic anti-seizure treatments alter brain-wide activity and often carry significant side effects. The authors engineered an inhibitory, acetylcholine receptor-based, chemogenetic tool to suppress targeted neurons, enabling control of chronic seizures in mice.
The neural circuits regulating REM sleep are poorly understood. The authors reveal that GABAergic neurons in the rostromedial tegmental nucleus suppress the onset and maintenance of REM sleep, and that projections of these neurons to the LDT and LH mediate distinct REM sleep transitions.
Anxiety is thought to be evolutionarily rooted in predator defense. Yan et al. show that GABAergic neurons in the anterior hypothalamic nucleus (AHN), a node in the predator defense network, play an essential role in anxiety-like behaviors.
Following long-term potentiation, α5-subunit-containing GABA receptors relocalize to inhibitory synapses to amplify inhibition and suppress runaway potentiation.
In a genetic mouse model related to schizophrenia, restoring the excitability of parvalbumin-expressing interneurons in hippocampal CA1 ameliorates network dysfunction and behavioural deficits.
