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Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Electrophysiological and Morphological Characterization of Neuronal Microcircuits in Acute Brain Slices Using Paired Patch-Clamp Recordings
Published on: January 10, 2015
Specialized inhibitory synaptic actions between nearby neocortical pyramidal neurons
Ming Ren1, Yumiko Yoshimura, Naoki Takada
1Department of Neuroscience, Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan.
Abstract:
We found that, in the mouse visual cortex, action potentials generated in a single layer-2/3 pyramidal (excitatory) neuron can reliably evoke large, constant-latency inhibitory postsynaptic currents in other nearby pyramidal cells. This effect is mediated by axo-axonic ionotropic glutamate receptor-mediated excitation of the nerve terminals of inhibitory interneurons, which connect to the target pyramidal cells. Therefore, individual cortical excitatory neurons can generate inhibition independently from the somatic firing of inhibitory interneurons.
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