title: The Diversity of Cortical Inhibitory Synapses.
abstract: The most typical and well known inhibitory action in the cortical microcircuit is a strong inhibition on the target neuron by axo-somatic synapses. However, it has become clear that synaptic inhibition in the cortex is much more diverse and complicated. Firstly, at least ten or more inhibitory non-pyramidal cell subtypes engage in diverse inhibitory functions to produce the elaborate activity characteristic of the different cortical states. Each distinct non-pyramidal cell subtype has its own independent inhibitory function. Secondly, the inhibitory synapses innervate different neuronal domains, such as axons, spines, dendrites and soma, and their inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP) size is not uniform. Thus, cortical inhibition is highly complex, with a wide variety of anatomical and physiological modes. Moreover, the functional significance of the various inhibitory synapse innervation styles and their unique structural dynamic behaviors differ from those of excitatory synapses. In this review, we summarize our current understanding of the inhibitory mechanisms of the cortical microcircuit.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cerebral Circuitry, National Institute for Physiological SciencesOkazaki, Japan; Department of Physiological Sciences, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)Okazaki, Japan; Japan Science and Technology Agency, Core Research for Evolutional Science and TechnologyTokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neural Circuitry, Graduate School of Brain Science, Doshisha University Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Fuyuki
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Karube
authors.affiliation: Japan Science and Technology Agency, Core Research for Evolutional Science and TechnologyTokyo, Japan; Department of Mathematics, Kyoto UniversityKyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.affiliation: Division of Cerebral Circuitry, National Institute for Physiological SciencesOkazaki, Japan; Department of Physiological Sciences, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI)Okazaki, Japan; Japan Science and Technology Agency, Core Research for Evolutional Science and TechnologyTokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawaguchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
keywords: cortex; dually innervated spine; inhibitory synapse; pyramidal cell; spine; thalamocortical fiber; veto