They all start by containing one characteristic new biochemical, NKX2.1. This information, too, may ultimately reveal such things as the origin of a dendritic strand cut off from its corresponding neuron. Most important, these methods allowed them to match activity of receptors with their locations quite precisely in living neurons. Finally, their work almost entirely showed the operation of glutamate receptors responding to AMPA stimulation. A, B show pyramidal neurons, C,D interneurons.
Vertical scales measure current, horizontal distance in microns.
Figure 8 gives some of their results with both glutamate and GABA on pyramidal neurons. The figure also shows GABA responses, which look similar to the glutamate ones. Given that individual synapses lack any ability to respond more or less strongly, these experiments tell us that both glutamate and GABA synapses occur more frequently as their distance from the cell body grows larger on dendrite branches. The response for interneurons differed markedly. Here the glutamate response increased as we moved away from the cell body, while the GABA response decreased.