Apamin increases NMDA-induced burst-firing of rat mesencephalic dopamine neurons

Vincent Seutin, Steven W. Johnson, R. Alan North

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

99 Scopus citations

Abstract

Intracellular recordings made in vitro from rat midbrain dopamine neurons showed that apamin (100 nM) did not alter the regular spontaneous firing of the neurons, but it increased the occurrence of bursts of action potentials in N-methyl-d-aspartate. Apamin appeared to facilitate burst-firing induced by NMDA because, by blocking an outward calcium-activated potassium current, it increased the depolarizing action of NMDA.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)341-344
Number of pages4
JournalBrain research
Volume630
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 10 1993

Keywords

  • Apamin
  • Burst-firing
  • Ventral tegmental area

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience
  • Molecular Biology
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Developmental Biology

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