Do gap junctions regulate synchrony in the Parkinsonian basal ganglia?

Schwab, Bettina C.

doi:10.3990/1.9789036540704

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

References 197 publications

(392 reference statements)

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“…Beta oscillations in the basal ganglia are often described in LFP recordings, but, under parkinsonian conditions, these beta oscillations come along with coherence at the single unit level (Goldberg et al ., ). However, the relation between single unit and LFP activity seems to be more complicated under healthy conditions, where a clear spike‐field coupling is missing (Goldberg et al ., ; Schwab, ). Here, for the healthy state, we do not relate single unit activity to LFP recordings, but restrict ourselves on the notion that single unit activity needs to be sufficiently irregular.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Gap junctions have often been attributed to synchrony and oscillations (Draguhn et al ., ; Tamás et al ., ); in particular, recently also in the context of PD (Traub & Whittington, ; Schwab et al ., ; Phookan et al ., ; Schwab, ). While an early study showed first evidence of gap junctions in the rodent GP, using electron microscopy (Kita, ), and also Cx36 was reported in the rodent GP (Rash et al ., ), we described the presence of Cx36 in the human GPe and GPi (Schwab et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Sparse pallidal connections shape synchrony in a network model of the basal ganglia

Schwab

Wezel

Gils

2016

Eur J of Neuroscience

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Neural synchrony in the basal ganglia, especially in the beta frequency band (13-30 Hz), is a hallmark of Parkinson's disease and considered as antikinetic. In contrast, the healthy basal ganglia show low levels of synchrony. It is currently unknown where synchrony and oscillations arise in the parkinsonian brain and how they are transmitted through the basal ganglia, as well as what makes them dependent on dopamine. The external part of the globus pallidus has recently been identified as a hub nucleus in the basal ganglia, possessing intrinsic inhibitory connections and possibly also gap junctions. In this study, we show that in a conductance-based network model of the basal ganglia, the combination of sparse, high-conductance inhibitory synapses and sparse, low-conductance gap junctions in the external part of the globus pallidus could effectively desynchronize the whole network. However, when gap junction coupling became strong enough, the effect was impeded and activity synchronized. In particular, sustained periods of beta coherence occurred between some neuron pairs. As gap junctions can change their conductance with the dopamine level, we suggest pallidal gap junction coupling as a mechanism contributing to the development of beta synchrony in the parkinsonian basal ganglia.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%