Cited by 408Neural dynamics and brain functionNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchMemory and Neural Mechanisms

Destruction and Creation of Spatial Tuning by Disinhibition: GABAABlockade of Prefrontal Cortical Neurons Engaged by Working Memory

Open access
Rao, Srinivas G., Williams, Graham V., Goldman-Rakic, Patricia S.·2000·The Journal of Neuroscience

Abstract

Local circuit neurons in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dPFC) of monkeys have been implicated in the cellular basis of working memory. To further elucidate the role of inhibition in spatial tuning, we iontophoresed bicuculline methiodide (BMI) onto functionally characterized neurons in the dPFC of monkeys performing an oculomotor delayed response task. This GABA A blockade revealed that both putative interneurons and pyramidal cells possess significant inhibitory tone in the awake, behaving monkey. In addition, BMI application primarily resulted in the loss of previously extant spatial tuning in both cell types through reduction of both isodirectional and cross-directional inhibition. This tuning loss occurred in both the sensorimotor and mnemonic phases of the task, although the delay activity of prefrontal neurons appeared to be particularly affected. Finally, application of BMI also created significant spatial tuning in a sizable minority of units that were untuned in the control condition. Visual field analysis of such tuning suggests that it is likely caused by the unmasking of normally suppressed spatially tuned excitatory input. These findings provide the first direct evidence of directional inhibitory modulation of pyramidal cell and interneuron firing in both the mnemonic and sensorimotor phases of the working memory process, and they implicate a further role for GABAergic interneurons in the construction of spatial tuning in prefrontal cortex.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1523/jneurosci.20-01-00485.2000

Cites

46 of 46 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Rao, S. G., Williams, G. V., & Goldman-Rakic, P. S.
Affiliations
Yale University (US)
Venue
The Journal of Neuroscience
Published
2000-01-01
Volume
20
Issue
1
Pages
485-494
ISSN
  • 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
  • 1529-2401
OpenAlex
W2170328434
Cited by
407
References
46
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 14 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 23 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 20
FWCI
7.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Mental Health (P50 MH44866, R37 MH-3854, P50MH044866)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Keywords
spatial tuning, GABAergic inhibition, disinhibition, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, working memory, bicuculline methiodide, interneurons, pyramidal neurons, delay activity, visual field testing
MeSH terms
Action Potentials, Animals, Bicuculline, Fixation, Ocular, Inhibition, Psychological, Interneurons, Macaca mulatta, Memory, Reaction Time, Receptors, GABA-A, Space Perception, Prefrontal Cortex, GABA Antagonists, GABA-A Receptor Antagonists

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review