Dopamine modulates temporal dynamics of feedforward inhibition in rat prefrontal cortex in vivo

Midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons project to pyramidal cells and interneurons of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). At the microcircuit level, interneurons gate inputs to a network and regulate/pattern its outputs. Whereas several in vitro studies have examined the role of DA on PFC interneurons, few in vivo data are available. In this study, we show that DA influences the timing of interneuron firing. In particular, DA had a reductive influence on interneuron spontaneous firing, which in the context of the excitatory response of interneurons to hippocampal electrical stimulation, lead to a temporal focalization of the interneuron response. This suggests that the reductive influence of DA on interneuron excitability is responsible for filtering out weak excitatory inputs. The increase in the temporal precision of interneuron firing is a mechanism by which DA can modulate the temporal dynamics of feedforward inhibition in PFC circuits and can thereby influence cognitive information processing.