Cortical inhibitory neuron basket cells: from circuit function to disruption

Abstract

Despite representing only ∼10–15% of the total cortical and hippocampal neuronal population, local circuit GABAergic inhibitory interneurons represent one of the most diverse cell types in the mammalian central nervous system. In the hippocampal formation alone upwards of 20 distinct cell types have been described, with the number rising each year (Freund & Buzsaki, 1996; Klausberger & Somogyi, 2008; Tricoire et al. 2011). The pressure to diversify is undoubtedly a consequence of the myriad roles played by local circuit interneurons in precisely shaping and modulating features of both local and global circuits. Indeed precision in the circuit largely relies on the laminar positioning of their somato-dendritic axis to receive appropriate afferent input combined with their axonal output, which targets both principal cell and interneuron subcellular compartments.