The dual network of GABAergic interneurons linked by both chemical and electrical synapses: a possible infrastructure of the cerebral cortex

Abstract

To know the structural feature of individual nerve cells and of the network they form is essentially important for understanding how the brain works. We have recently shown that a certain subpopulation of hippocampal GABAergic neurons that contain a calcium-binding protein parvalbumin form the dual network connected by both chemical synapses and gap junctions. The mutual chemical synaptic contacts are formed between their axon terminals and somata whereas gap junctions are located between their dendrites. In this article, we demonstrate that the dual network of parvalbumin-containing GABAergic interneurons is not restricted to the hippocampus but found also in the neocortex and, therefore, appears to be a fundamental structure of the cerebral cortex, possibly having some relevance to the synchronized activities observed broadly in various cortical areas.