Long-term depression of excitatory transmission in the lateral septum

TRPC4 and GIRK channels underlie neuronal coding of firing patterns that reflect Gq/11-Gi/o coincidence signals of variable strengths

SignificanceNeurons communicate by releasing neurotransmitters, many of which act at G protein-coupled receptors. Although it is well known that G_q/11 accelerates action potential firing while G_i/o inhibits firing, how firing patterns change in response to simultaneous activation of G_q/11 and G_i/o remains elusive, especially because the relative strength of G_q/11 versus G_i/o activation varies greatly from event to event. This study reveals that neurons encode distinct messages that reflect coincident G_q/11 and G_i/o stimulation by activating two ion channels, TRPC4 and GIRK. The resulting firing patterns, composed of burst, pause, and firing recovery phases, reflect both the occurrence of coincident G_q/11 and G_i/o activation and their relative strengths. With these, we may begin to interpret the language of neurons.