Parvalbumin in Most γ-Aminobutyric Acid-Containing Neurons of the Rat Cerebral Cortex

gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is one of the major inhibitory neurotransmitters in the central nervous system. In the cerebral cortex, GABA-containing cells represent a subpopulation of interneurons. With semithin frozen sections, it is possible to demonstrate that most GABA neurons in the rat somatosensory cortex contain the calcium-binding protein parvalbumin and that parvalbumin is found virtually only in GABA neurons. Parvalbumin seems to influence the electrical properties and enzymatic machinery to modulate neuronal excitability and activity. The specific role of parvalbumin in GABA-containing cortical cells may be related to controlling the effectiveness of their inhibitory action.