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Brain Res

Title:		Heterogeneous electrophysiological and morphological properties of neurons in the mouse medial amygdala in vitro
Author(s):		Niimi K; Horie S; Yokosuka M; Kawakami-Mori F; Tanaka K; Fukayama H; Sahara Y;
Address:		"Departments of Physiology, Tsurumi University School of Dental Medicine, Yokohama 230-8501, Japan. keitaniimi64@gmail.com"
Journal Title:		Brain Res
Year:		2012
Volume:		20120831
Issue:
Page Number:		41 - 52
DOI:		10.1016/j.brainres.2012.08.050
ISSN/ISBN:		1872-6240 (Electronic) 0006-8993 (Linking)
Abstract:		"Neurons in the medial nucleus of the amygdala (MeA) play a key role in the innate maternal, reproductive, defensive, and social behaviors. However, it is unclear how activation of the vomeronasal system leads to the behavioral outputs that are associated with pheromones. Here, we characterized the electrophysiological and morphological properties of MeA neurons using whole-cell recordings in mice slice preparations. Biocytin labeling revealed that MeA neurons possessed bipolar to multipolar cell bodies and dendritic fields covering projection areas from the accessory olfactory bulb. In 70% of recorded MeA neurons, monosynaptic excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) were evoked from the accessory olfactory bulb afferent in which the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate component was dominant and was rarely followed by the N-methyl-d-aspartic acid component. Norepinephrine increased the frequency of spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents in some neurons, whereas alpha-methyl-5-hydroxytryptamine increased spontaneous EPSCs in other neurons. Morphologically and physiologically, heterogeneous MeA neurons appear likely to produce multiplex outputs of instinctive behaviors"
Keywords:		Amygdala/cytology/drug effects/*physiology Animals Cell Shape Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials/drug effects/physiology Inhibitory Postsynaptic Potentials/drug effects/physiology Membrane Potentials/drug effects/physiology Mice Neural Inhibition/drug eff;
Notes:		"MedlineNiimi, Keita Horie, Shinichiro Yokosuka, Makoto Kawakami-Mori, Fumiko Tanaka, Koichi Fukayama, Haruhisa Sahara, Yoshinori eng Netherlands 2012/09/11 Brain Res. 2012 Oct 22; 1480:41-52. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2012.08.050. Epub 2012 Aug 31"