Synapse formation between dissociated basal forebrain neurones and hippocampal cells in culture

Dissociated neurones from rat basal forebrain and hippocampus were co-cultured in vitro for 8-15 days. Patch-clamp recordings from individual presumed hippocampal pyramidal cells revealed synaptic currents following focal extracellular stimulation of single presumed basal forebrain neurones. Of 18 neurone pairs, 13 showed inward (excitatory) synaptic currents, 4 showed outward (inhibitory) synaptic currents, and 1 showed a mixed current. Latencies varied from 4 to 15 ms, suggesting both mono- and polysynaptic currents. These experiments indicate that synaptic connections can be established between basal forebrain and hippocampal cells in dissociated cell culture.