A new perspective on brain function depends upon an understanding of the interaction and integration of excitation and inhibition. A recent surge in research activity focused on inhibitory interneurons now makes a more balanced view possible. Technological advances such as improved imaging methods, visualized patch-clamp recording, multiplex single-cell PCR, and gene-targeted deletion or knock-in mice are some of the novel tools featured in this book. This book will provide an integrated view of neuron function, operating in a balanced regime of excitation and inhibition. It is a timely contribution emphasizing how this balance is established, maintained, and modified from the molecular to system levels.

Historical Overview: Search for inhibitory neurons and their function.- I. Synapses.- 1. The organization and integrative function of the post-synaptic proteome.- 2. Dynamism of postsynaptic proteins as the mechanism of synaptic plasticity.- 3. Construction, stability and dynamics of the inhibitory postsynaptic membrane.- 4. Long-term modification at visual cortical inhibitory synapses.- 5. Activity-dependent modification of cation-chloride co-transporters underlying plasticity of GABAergic transmission.- 6. Endocannabinoid-mediated modulation of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission.- II. Circuits.- 7. Balanced recurrent excitation and inhibition in local cortical networks.- 8. Local circuit neurons in the frontal cortico-striatal system.- 9. Interneuron heterogeneity in neocortex.- 10. Fast spiking cells and the balance of excitation and inhibition in the neocortex.- 11. Homeostatic regulation of excitatory-inhibitory balance.- 12. Adult neurogenesis controls excitatory-inhibitory balance in the olfactory bulb.- III. Systems.- 13. GABAA receptor subtypes: memory function and neurological disorders.- 14. LTD, spike timing and somatosensory barrel cortex plasticity.- 15. Maintaining stability and promoting plasticity: context-dependent functions of inhibition.- 16. Spike timing and visual cortical plasticity.- 17. Excitatory-inhibitory balance controls critical period plasticity.