Event Details:
Stanford Neurosciences Institute Seminar Series Presents
Dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra – integration and subpopulations
Zayd Khaliq, PhD
Investigator, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Host: Jun Ding
Abstract
Dopamine-releasing neurons located in the midbrain play a critical role in a broad range of basic behaviors including voluntary movements, reward learning, aversion and cognition. Although early studies considered midbrain dopamine neurons to be a fairly homogenous population, recent work has revealed that they are differentiated by axonal projection pattern, co-release of neurotransmitter, electrophysiological characteristics, expression of molecular markers, and even responses during behavior. In this lecture, I will discuss our most recent findings that identify physiologically distinct subpopulations of dopaminergic neurons within the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). In particular, I will describe how these SNc neuron subpopulations can be distinguished according to their integrative properties, calcium signaling, dendritic morphology, and synaptic transmission.