Modulatory synaptic actions of an identified histaminergic neuron on the serotonergic metacerebral cell of Aplysia.

Possible sources of excitatory synaptic input to the serotonergic metacerebral cell (MCC) were determined by stimulating various neurons in the cerebral ganglion. Firing of the previously identified histaminergic neuron C2 was found to produce synaptic input to the MCC. The synaptic input consists of fast excitatory-inhibitory synaptic potentials on a background of a slow EPSP. The slow EPSP appears to be monosynaptic and chemically mediated since it persists in a solution of high divalent cations; broadening of the presynaptic spike enhances the EPSP; the size of the EPSP is a function of the Mg2+ and Ca2+ concentrations of the bathing solution; and the EPSP can be mimicked by application of histamine to the MCC. The slow EPSP, in addition to firing the MCC, can increase the excitability of the cell, even under conditions in which C2 is fired at a rate too slow to produce a measurable EPSP when the MCC is at rest potential. This property appears to be due to the fact that the slow EPSP results from an apparent decrease of membrane conductance so that the size of the EPSP increases markedly as the cell is depolarized, and the EPSP appears to be highly voltage-dependent so that it is small or absent close to the rest potential of the MCC. When the MCC is voltage-clamped, application of histamine to the bath results in an inward current that disappears when the MCC is hyperpolarized. The potential at which the histamine-induced current reverses or disappears is dependent on the concentration of external potassium, suggesting that, at least in part, the slow EPSP is due to a decrease of potassium conductance. The data on C2 are consistent with its being an element of the neuronal system that mediates a state of food arousal in Aplysia.