Journal
TRENDS IN NEUROSCIENCES
Volume 27, Issue 5, Pages 262-269Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE LONDON
DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2004.03.005
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GABA(A) receptors not only respond to the local release of GABA from presynaptic terminals, but can also mediate a persistent 'tonic current'. This reflects the activation of high-affinity GABA(A) receptors by ambient GABA concentrations. Tonic GABA(A)-receptor-mediated signalling occurs in different brain regions, shows cell-type-specific differences in magnitude and pharmacology, and changes during brain development. Some clues to the adaptive significance of this phenomenon are beginning to emerge: in cerebellar granule cells, it alters the gain of transmission of rate-coded sensory information; in the hippocampus, it acts in a cell-type-specific manner to regulate the excitability of the network. Because tonic conductances can be modulated by changes in GABA release and uptake, and by modulators of high-affinity GABA(A) receptors including neuro-steroids, this phenomenon provides a potentially important new window onto neuronal information processing and pathological states such as epilepsy.
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