Figure 4
From: Evidence for newly generated interneurons in the basolateral amygdala of adult mice
DCX-GFP-expressing cells in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) exhibit the electrophysiological properties of interneurons. (a) Location of recovered cells in the BLA (n=23 cells). (b) Histogram showing the distribution of input resistance of DCX- GFP+ cells (n=42 cells), measured using whole-cell recordings. Recovered cells displayed morphologies ranging from cells with branching dendrites (c), that had interneuron-like fast-spiking firing properties (d, e) and high spontaneous activity (d: inset), to sparsely branching, underdeveloped cells (f), which fired fewer action potentials (g, h). Firing was evoked using increasing steps of current injection (as shown below in g and h). (i) Dual whole-cell recording shows that a DCX-GFP+ cell is capable of forming inhibitory connections onto pyramidal cells (1 paired recording out of 6 dual recordings); an evoked action potential in the presynaptic cell (‘Pre’; recovered cell indicated by white arrowhead in j) evoked an outward postsynaptic current in the postsynaptic cell (‘Post’; recovered cell indicated by yellow arrowhead in j) when voltage-clamped at −40 mV (9.50±0.54 pA; 4.27±0.62 pA at −60 mV, close to the chloride reversal potential). Black traces show the average response with example traces of single episodes in gray. (k) In current clamp this response was an inhibitory postsynaptic potential in the postsynaptic cell (−0.78±0.09 mV). Scale bars, 50 μm in (c), 25 μm in (f) and 50 μm in (j).
