Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Highlight
  • Published:

Depression

Bursting with depression

Nature Reviews Neuroscience volume 19, page 181 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

In one study, Yang et al. recorded the activity of LHb neurons and found that some neurons showed a burst-firing phenotype with a markedly hyperpolarized resting membrane potential compared with others, and that the burst frequency was positively correlated with the extent of hyperpolarization. LHb neurons from congenitally learned helpless (cLH) rats and mice with chronic restraint stress (CRS mice) showed a higher percentage of bursting neurons than did controls; moreover, LHb bursting was inhibited in both cLH rats and CRS mice by systemic injection of ketamine. Importantly, injection of ketamine bilaterally into the LHb of cLH rats was sufficient to reduce depressive-like behaviour in the forced swim test (FST), and anhedonia in the sucrose preference test (SPT). These results suggest that depressive-like behaviours may be accompanied by aberrant bursting in the LHb that can be suppressed by ketamine.

Next, Yang et al. showed that bath application of ketamine or another NMDAR antagonist to brain slices quickly abolished bursting activity in LHb neurons. In addition, in rat and mouse LHb neurons, the authors detected currents mediated by T-VSCCs — which, in response to transient hyperpolarization, elicit bursting. The probability of this bursting was reduced by specific T-VSCC blockade, and in cLH rats, systemic or local LHb injection of a T-VSCC inhibitor induced rapid antidepressant effects. Thus, the increased LHb bursting observed in a model of depression may depend on NMDARs and T-VSCCs.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Yang, Y. et al. Ketamine blocks bursting in the lateral habenula to rapidly relieve depression. Nature 554, 317–322 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Cui, Y. et al. Astroglial Kir4.1 in the lateral habenula drives neuronal bursts in depression. Nature 554, 323–327 (2018)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Natasha Bray
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bray, N. Bursting with depression. Nat Rev Neurosci 19, 181 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2018.28

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn.2018.28

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing