title: Autaptic self-inhibition of cortical GABAergic neurons: synaptic narcissism or useful introspection?
abstract: Fast synaptic inhibition sculpts all forms of cortical activity by means of a specialized connectivity pattern between highly heterogeneous inhibitory interneurons and principal excitatory cells. Importantly, inhibitory neurons connect also to each other extensively, following a detailed blueprint, and, indeed, specific forms of disinhibition affect important behavioral functions. Here we discuss a peculiar form of cortical disinhibition: the massive autaptic self-inhibition of parvalbumin-(PV) positive basket cells. Despite being described long ago, autaptic inhibition onto PV basket cells is rarely included in cortical circuit diagrams, perhaps because of its still elusive function. We propose here a potential dual role of autaptic feedback inhibition in temporally coordinating PV basket cells during cortical network activity.
authors.affiliation: ICM - Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié Salpêtrière, 47 Boulevard de l'Hopital, 75013 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Deleuze
authors.affiliation: European Brain Research Institute, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pazienti
authors.affiliation: ICM - Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié Salpêtrière, 47 Boulevard de l'Hopital, 75013 Paris, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unité Mixte de Recherche 7225, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale Unité Mixte de Recherche 975, Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6, 75005 Paris, France. Electronic address: alberto.bacci@icm-institute.org.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bacci
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D059330:GABAergic Neurons / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D019579:Neocortex / Q000166:cytology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology*; D010320:Parvalbumins / Q000378:metabolism; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D010320:Parvalbumins