Phase dependent sign changes of GABAergic synaptic input explored in-silicio and in-vitro

Inhibitory interactions play a crucial role in the synchronization of neuronal activity. Here we investigate the effect of GABAergic PSPs on spike timing in cortical neurons that exhibit an oscillatory modulation of their membrane potential. To this end we combined numerical simulations with in-vitro patch-clamp recordings from layer II/III pyramidal cells of the rat visual cortex. Special emphasis was placed on exploring how the reversal potential of the GABAergic synaptic currents (EGABA) and the phase relations of the PSPs relative to the oscillation cycles affect the timing of spikes riding on the depolarizing peaks of the oscillations. The simulations predicted: (1) With EGABA more negative than the oscillation minima PSPs are hyperpolarizing at all phases and thus delay or prevent spikes. (2) With EGABA being more positive than the oscillation maxima PSPs are depolarizing in a phase-independent way and lead to a phase advance of spikes. (3) In the intermediate case where EGABA lies within oscillation maxima and minima PSPs are either hyper- or depolarizing depending on their phase relations to the V(m) oscillations and can therefore either delay or advance spikes. Experiments conducted in this most interesting last configuration with biphasic PSPs agreed with the model predictions. Additional theoretical investigations revealed the effect of these PSP induced shifts in spike timing on synchronization in neuronal circuits. The results suggest that GABAergic mechanisms can assume highly specific timing functions in oscillatory networks.