Figure 12.

Increased dendritic spines of pyramidal neurons in ErbB4-Vgat^−/− mice. A, Representative images of apical and basal dendritic spines (genetically labeled by GFP) of L2/3 pyramidal neurons in control and ErbB4-Vgat^−/− mice. B, C, Similar dendritic spines of apical and basal dendrites of L2/3 pyramidal neurons in control and ErbB4-Vgat^−/− mice (n = 12 and 15 neurons from 3 controls and 4 ErbB4-Vgat^−/− mice, respectively, 2–3 dendritic segments per neuron). D, E, Spine subtypes distribution of L2/3 apical and basal dendrites. J, Representative images of apical and basal dendritic spines (genetically labeled by GFP) of L5 pyramidal neurons in control and ErbB4-Vgat^−/− mice. Examples of different subtypes of dendritic spines in numbered boxes are shown in high magnification at the bottom. K, L, Dendritic spines of apical, but not basal, dendrites were increased (n = 19 and 18 neurons, in 3 controls and 4 ErbB4-Vgat^−/− mice, respectively, 2–3 dendritic segments per neuron). M, N, Spine subtype distribution of L5 apical and basal dendrites. F, O, Schematics of whole-cell patch-clamp recordings of L2/3 (F) and L5/6 (O) pyramidal neurons in cortical slices. G, P, Representative traces of mEPSCs from L2/3 (G) and L5/6 (P) pyramidal neurons in control and ErbB4-Vgat^−/− mice. Traces indicated by red lines are shown magnified below. H, I, no change in mEPSC frequency (H) and amplitude (I) in L2/3 pyramidal neurons of ErbB4-Vgat^−/− mice compared with controls. Control, n = 8 cells, 3 mice; ErbB4-Vgat^−/−, n = 6 cells, 3 mice. Q, R, Increased mEPSC frequency (Q) and no change in mEPSC amplitude (R) in L5/6 pyramidal neurons of ErbB4-Vgat^−/− mice compared with controls. Control, n = 9 cells, 3 mice; ErbB4-Vgat^−/−, n = 9 cells, 3 mice. Shown are cumulative probability plots for interevent intervals and amplitudes of mEPSCs. Insets, Bar graphs for mEPSC frequency and amplitude. Error bars indicate SEM. n.s., Not significant. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; ****p < 0.0001.