Tom Reimer, Werner Baumann and Jan Gimsa
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DOI:10.17265/1934-7375/2012.11.013
Department of Biophysics, University of Rostock, Rostock 18057, Germany
Author present the interplay between different neuron types in the spontaneous electrical activity of low density cortical in vitro networks grown on MEA (multielectrode arrays) of glass neurochips. In 10% of the networks, the continuously spiking activity of some neurons was inhibited by synchronous bursts or superbursts of the majority of the other neurons. Immunohistochemical staining subsequent to MEA recordings suggest that the synchronously bursting neurons are parvalbumin-positive interneurons with abundant axonal ramifications. Blocking chemical synaptic transmission by Ca2+-free medium revealed that the curbed spiking neurons are intrinsically active. It is assumed that these neurons are pyramidal cells which may be inhibited by groups of synchronously bursting interneurons. It is propose that the observed burst-induced inhibition is an important principle in the temporal organization of neuronal activity as well as in the restriction of excitation, and thus essential for information processing in the cerebral cortex.
Neurochip, MEA, cerebral cortex, cortical networks, spontaneous activity, inhibitory interaction, parvalbumin, interneurons.