title: Selective reduction by dopamine of excitatory synaptic inputs to pyramidal neurons in primate prefrontal cortex.
abstract: We have employed in vitro physiological methods to investigate dopaminergic modulation of excitatory synaptic transmission in monkey prefrontal cortex (PFC) circuits. We show that combined activation of D1-like and D2-like dopamine receptors results in the reduction of extracellular stimulation-evoked isolated EPSCs in layer 3 pyramidal neurons. Using paired recordings from synaptically connected pyramidal neurons we have determined the basic properties of unitary synaptic connections between layer 3 pyramids in the primate PFC and, interestingly, we found that dopamine does not reduce synaptic transmission between nearby pairs of synaptically coupled PFC pyramidal neurons. This input specificity may be a critical aspect of the dopaminergic regulation of recurrent excitatory circuits in the PFC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA. urban@mpimf-heidelberg.mpg.de
authors.forename: Nathaniel N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Urban
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: González-Burgos
authors.forename: Darrell A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Henze
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.forename: German
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barrionuevo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004298:Dopamine / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008252:Macaca fascicularis / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1 / Q000502:physiology; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000502:physiology; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D017447:Receptors, Dopamine D1; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2; D004298:Dopamine