Cholinergic and glutamatergic spontaneous and evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents in optic lobe neurons of cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis.

Spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents (sEPSCs) were recorded from two different classes of neurons in the optic lobes of the cuttlefish brain and their synaptic activities analyzed and compared. The cell types were as follows: efferent centrifugal neurons, with cell bodies in the inner granule layer and axons projecting to the retina, and interneurons local to the medulla. For both neuronal groups, the sEPSCs reversal potentials were around 0 mV and there were no significant differences in their mean amplitude and rise times. However, the sEPSCs from the centrifugal neurons had a significantly higher frequency and faster decay time constant than those recorded from the medulla. Tetrodotoxin (TTX) reduced the mean frequency of the sEPSCs from both the medulla and centrifugal neurons by 69.66 +/- 4.05% and 57.80 +/- 3.87%, respectively, implying that more than half of these excitatory synaptic inputs were due to action potential-mediated release of neurotransmitter. Pharmacological examination revealed that the centrifugal neurons were driven by spontaneous synaptic inputs mediated by glutamatergic and cholinergic receptors, because co-application of the glutamate antagonist kynurenic acid (KYNA) and the nicotinic antagonist mecamylamine hydrochloride (MCM) resulted in complete blockade of these excitatory inputs. For the medulla neurons, the synaptic inputs were driven by glutamate and other transmitters yet to be identified. Evoked EPSCs (eEPSCs) were recorded from both types of neurons by stimulating the appropriate optic nerve bundles; in centrifugal neurons, the eEPSCs were blocked by co-application of KYNA and MCM, whereas in the medulla neurons, KYNA alone either totally or partially blocked the eEPSCs.