Aging-Associated Changes to Intrinsic Neuronal Excitability in the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis Is Cell Type-Dependent

• Published in: Frontiers in aging neuroscience Vol. 9; p. 424
• Main Authors: Smithers, Hannah E, Terry, John R, Brown, Jon T, Randall, Andrew D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Research Foundation 22.12.2017; Frontiers Media S.A
• Subjects: Adrenal glands; Age; Aging; Anxiety; bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST); Brain; electrophysiology; Excitability; female; Firing rate; Forebrain; hyperexcitability; Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis; Kinases; Limbic system; Membrane potential; Neurons; Neuroscience; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Physiology; Stress; Stria terminalis; whole cell patch clamp; United Kingdom > UK; bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST); whole cell patch clamp; hyperexcitability; aging; electrophysiology; female
• ISSN: 1663-4365; 1663-4365
• DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2017.00424

Intrinsic neuronal excitability has been reported to change during normal aging. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST), a limbic forebrain structure, is involved in fear, stress and anxiety; behavioral features that exhibit age-dependent properties. To examine the effect of aging on intrinsic neuronal properties in BNST we compared patch clamp recordings from cohorts of female mice at two ages, 3-4 months (Young) and 29-30 months (Aged) focusing on 2 types of BNST neurons. Aged Type I neurons exhibited a hyperpolarized resting membrane potential (RMP) of circa -80 mV compared to circa -70 mV in the Young. A key finding in this study is a hyper-excitability of Type II neurons with age reflected in an increase in firing frequency in response to depolarizing current injections; activation of Type II neurons is believed to dampen anxiety like responses. Such age-related changes in intrinsic neurophysiological function are likely to modulate how the limbic system, acting via BNST, shapes function in the HPA-axis.