GABAA AND NMDA RECEPTORS: ELECTROPHYSIOLOGIC STUDIES

吸入麻醉剂损害学习和记忆的机制仍然未知。 GABAA和NMDA受体被认为是主要的候选者，因为各种各样的吸入和注射麻醉剂改变这些受体的活性，并且因为一些损害学习和记忆的注射剂（例如，咪达唑仑和氯胺酮）通过这些受体特异性地起作用。我们的建议测试吸入麻醉剂通过改变GABAA和/或NMDA受体功能抑制记忆形成的假设。我们将通过比较吸入麻醉剂和GABAA或NMDA受体的特异性调节剂对突触传递、突触可塑性和记忆的影响来验证这一假设。我们的受试者将是野生型小鼠和携带点突变的小鼠，这些点突变使特异性GABAA或NMDA受体对吸入剂不敏感。由于海马是一种特征明显的皮质结构，与外显记忆的形成有关，因此实验将集中在海马中表达的受体、海马突触和海马依赖性学习上。

Inhaled anesthetics impair learning and memory by mechanisms that remain unknown. GABAA and NMDA receptors are considered prime candidates because a wide variety of inhaled and injected anesthetics alter the activity of these receptors, and because some injected agents that impair learning and memory (e.g., midazolam and ketamine) act specifically through these receptors. Our proposal tests the hypothesis that inhaled anesthetics suppress memory formation by altering GABAA and or NMDA receptor function. We will test this hypothesis by comparing the effects of inhaled anesthetics and specific modulators of GABAA or NMDA receptors on synaptic transmission, synaptic plasticity, and memory. Our subjects will be wild-type mice and mice harboring point mutations that render specific GABAA or NMDA receptors insensitive to inhaled agents. Because the hippocampus is a well-characterized cortical structure and is implicated in the formation of explicit memories, experiments will focus on receptors that are expressed in the hippocampus, on hippocampal synapses, and on hippocampal-dependent learning.