Cortical GABAergic neurons: stretching it

Abstract

In the cerebellum and basal ganglia, projection neurons are GABAergic; but in the cerebral cortex, there has been a historically strong dichotomy between glutamatergic projection neurons and GABAergic local circuit neurons. While this dichotomy is overwhelmingly valid, it is now clear that a small population of long-distance projecting GABAergic neurons occurs in primates, as well as in cats and rodents. Beyond their well-documented existence, however, the functional significance, ontogeny, and connectivity of this intriguing subpopulation remain obscure.