Synaptic localization of adrenergic disinhibition in the rat hippocampus

Abstract

Norepinephrine is an endogenous neurotransmitter that reduces synaptic inhibition onto pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus by an action at an alpha-adrenergic receptor. The physiological mechanism of this disinhibition was previously not known, except that it occurred at a site presynaptic to the inhibited pyramidal cell. In this paper we present evidence that adrenergic disinhibition is restricted to the early phase of the evoked inhibitory postsynaptic potential in area CA1 of the hippocampus. The locus of disinhibition does not appear to reside in the interneuronal terminal, axon, or cell body. Instead, adrenergic agonists appear to reduce evoked synaptic inhibition by depressing excitatory synapses that activate the interneuron.