Maturation of the GABAergic Transmission in Normal and Pathologic Motoneurons

Figure 2

(a) Developmental changes in the proportions of GABAergic and glycinergic synaptic activity in various areas of the central nervous system. (b) Examples of individual glycinergic (left) GABAergic (middle) and mixed (right) miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (mIPSCs) recorded in a hypoglossal motoneuron at P15, in the presence of tetrodotoxin (a blocker of voltage-gated sodium channels). Note the slower decay phase of the GABAergic mIPSC compared to the glycinergic mIPSC. Decay phase of GABAergic and glycinergic events is better fitted with a single exponential function, while a double exponential function is required to fit the decay phase of mixed events. (c) Relative proportions of glycinergic, GABAergic and mixed mIPSCs at P3–P5 (black bars) and at P15 (white bars) in wild-type mice. (d) Relative proportions of glycinergic, GABAergic and mixed miniature postsynaptic events at P5–P7 (black bars) and at P15–P18 (white bars) in SPA mice. (Adapted from [118, 126]).