title: Output-mode transitions are controlled by prolonged inactivation of sodium channels in pyramidal neurons of subiculum.
abstract: Transitions between different behavioral states, such as sleep or wakefulness, quiescence or attentiveness, occur in part through transitions from action potential bursting to single spiking. Cortical activity, for example, is determined in large part by the spike output mode from the thalamus, which is controlled by the gating of low-voltage-activated calcium channels. In the subiculum--the major output of the hippocampus--transitions occur from bursting in the delta-frequency band to single spiking in the theta-frequency band. We show here that these transitions are influenced strongly by the inactivation kinetics of voltage-gated sodium channels. Prolonged inactivation of sodium channels is responsible for an activity-dependent switch from bursting to single spiking, constituting a novel mechanism through which network dynamics are controlled by ion channel gating.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Physiology, Institute for Neuroscience, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Donald C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Sungkwon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Spruston
mesh_terms: D000244:Adenosine Diphosphate / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008564:Membrane Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015222:Sodium Channels; D000244:Adenosine Diphosphate