An Investigation into the Effects of Peptide Neurotransmitters and Intracellular Second Messengers in Rat Central Neurons in Culture.

Research has been carried out in the three areas outlined below. I. Excitatory amino acid responses in adult mammalian hippocampal neurons. This topic has become the focus of extensive research due to its possible relationship to short term memory. We have made the first measurements of calcium ion changes in these cells using fluorescence imaging techniques, and have demonstrated a long lasting response involving calcium flux induced after conditioning input to the cells. II. The developmental time course in culture of ion channels and transmitter sensitivity in cerebellar Purkinje neurons. We have demonstrated differential soma-dendritic responses to depolarization and the neurotransmitter glutamate in these neurons. Parallel immunocytochemical experiments using a number of antibodies have demonstrated the development of antigens in culture in comparison to in vivo development. III. Neuromodulation of synaptic efficacy in an invertebrate preparation that may be a useful model system for the actions of histamine in the central nervous system. Keywords Cerebellum Diencephalon Peptides Glutamate Histamine Presynaptic inhibition Cyclic adenosine monophosphate Gamma aminobutyric acid.