Abstract
In rat brainstem slice preparations, intracellular recording from neurons (n = 39) in the compact formation of the nucleus ambiguus (AMBc) revealed spontaneous and miniature excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs; n = 11) that, along with acetylcholine-induced depolarization, were enhanced by physostigmine (10 μM; n = 2) and blocked by dihydro-β-erythroidine 1–5 pmol (n = 4). Retrograde neuronal tracing combined with choline acetyltransferase immunocytochemistry demonstrated that the AMBc receives a projection from a subpopulation of cholinergic neurons in the zona intermedialis reticularis parvicellularis. Electrical stimulation of this region in slices evoked fast EPSPs in AMBc neurons (n = 23) that were inhibited by dihydro-β-erythroidine 2–5 pmol (n = 8), but not by methscopolamine 1 pmol (n = 2). The present findings strongly support the existence of a cholinergic nicotinic synapse mediating fast transmission in brainstem vagal motoneurons.
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Zhang, M., Wang, Y.T., Vyas, D.M. et al. Nicotinic cholinoceptor-mediated excitatory postsynaptic potentials in rat nucleus ambiguus. Exp Brain Res 96, 83–88 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00230441
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00230441