@article {1988,
	title = {Glutamate-mediated extrasynaptic inhibition: direct coupling of NMDA receptors to Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels.},
	journal = {Neuron},
	volume = {31},
	year = {2001},
	month = {2001 Sep 27},
	pages = {1027-34},
	abstract = {<p>NMDA receptors (NMDARs) typically contribute to excitatory synaptic transmission in the CNS. While Ca(2+) influx through NMDARs plays a critical role in synaptic plasticity, direct actions of NMDAR-mediated Ca(2+) influx on neuronal excitability have not been well established. Here we show that Ca(2+) influx through NMDARs is directly coupled to activation of BK-type Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels in outside-out membrane patches from rat olfactory bulb granule cells. Repetitive stimulation of glutamatergic synapses in olfactory bulb slices evokes a slow inhibitory postsynaptic current (IPSC) in granule cells that requires both NMDARs and BK channels. The slow IPSC is enhanced by glutamate uptake blockers, suggesting that extrasynaptic NMDARs underlie the response. These findings reveal a novel inhibitory action of extrasynaptic NMDARs in the brain.</p>
},
	keywords = {Animals, Calcium, Calcium Channel Blockers, Calcium Channels, Calcium-Activated, Evoked Potentials, Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials, Glutamic Acid, Ion Channel Gating, Ion Transport, Large-Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels, Macromolecular Substances, Membrane Potentials, Models, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Neurological, Neuronal Plasticity, Nicardipine, Olfactory Bulb, Olfactory Receptor Neurons, omega-Conotoxin GVIA, omega-Conotoxins, Patch-Clamp Techniques, Peptides, Potassium, Potassium Channels, Rats, Receptors, Smell, Sprague-Dawley},
	issn = {0896-6273},
	author = {Isaacson, J S and Murphy, G J}
}
@article {1989,
	title = {Postnatal development of spike generation in rat medial vestibular nucleus neurons.},
	journal = {Journal of Neurophysiology},
	volume = {85},
	year = {2001},
	month = {2001 May},
	pages = {1899-906},
	abstract = {<p>Image stability during self motion depends on the combined actions of the vestibuloocular and optokinetic reflexes (VOR and OKR, respectively). Neurons in the medial vestibular nucleus (MVN) participate in the VOR and OKR by firing in response to both head and image motion. Their intrinsic spike-generating properties enable MVN neurons to modulate firing rates linearly over a broad range of input amplitudes and frequencies such as those that occur during natural head and image motion. This study examines the postnatal development of the intrinsic spike-generating properties of rat MVN neurons with respect to maturation of peripheral vestibular and visual function. Spike generation was studied in a brain stem slice preparation by recording firing responses to current injected intracellularly through whole cell patch electrodes. MVN neurons fired spontaneously and modulated their firing rate in response to injected current at all postnatal ages. However, the input-output properties of the spike generator changed dramatically during the first two postnatal weeks. Neurons younger than postnatal day 10 could not fire faster than 80 spikes/s, modulated their firing rates over a limited range of input amplitudes, and tended to exhibit a nonlinear relationship between input current and mean evoked firing rate. In response to sustained depolarization, firing rates declined significantly in young neurons. Response gains tended to be highest in the first few postnatal days but varied widely across neurons and were not correlated with age. By about the beginning of the third postnatal week, MVN neurons could fire faster than 100 spikes/s in response to a broad range of input amplitudes, exhibited predominantly linear current-firing rate relationships, and adapted little in response to sustained depolarization. Concomitant decreases in action potential width and the time course of the afterhyperpolarization suggest that changes in potassium currents contribute to the maturation of the MVN neuronal spike generator. The results demonstrate that developmental changes in intrinsic membrane properties enable MVN neurons to fire linearly in response to a broad range of stimuli in time for the onset of visual function at the beginning of the third postnatal week.</p>
},
	keywords = {Action Potentials, Age Factors, Animals, Electric Stimulation, Eye Movements, Head Movements, Ion Transport, Movement, Nerve Tissue Proteins, Nystagmus, Optokinetic, Potassium Channels, Rats, Reflex, Sodium Channels, Vestibular Nuclei, Vestibulo-Ocular, Visual Perception},
	issn = {0022-3077},
	author = {Murphy, G J and Du Lac, S}
}
