Peering into the dendritic machinery of striatal medium spiny neurons.
Striatal medium spiny neurons are principal players in the basal ganglia macrocircuits implicated in an astonishing array of psychomotor disorders, including Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, Huntington's disease, and drug abuse. Using an elegant combination of 2-photon laser scanning microscopy and 2-photon uncaging of glutamate, Carter and Sabatini (this issue of Neuron) provide our first glimpse into the dendrites and spines of striatal medium spiny neurons. The results offer new insights into the workings of these clinically important yet mysterious neurons.
Surmeier
D James
DJ
Institute for Neuroscience, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Spruston
Nelson
N
D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D020013:Calcium Signaling / Q000502:physiology; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000166:cytology*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology*; D008274:Magnesium / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D018091:Receptors, AMPA / Q000502:physiology; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000502:physiology; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology
D018091:Receptors, AMPA; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; D008274:Magnesium; D002118:Calcium