The dentate granule cells (DGCs) play a crucial role in learning and memory. Many studies have described the role and physiological properties of these sparsely active neurons using different behavioral contexts. However, the morpho-functional features of DGCs recruited in mice maintained in their home cage (without training), considered as a baseline condition, have not yet been established. Using fosGFP transgenic mice, we observed ex vivo that DGCs recruited in animals maintained in the home cage condition are mature neurons that display a longer dendritic tree and lower excitability compared with non-activated cells. The higher GABA_A receptor-mediated shunting inhibition contributes to the lower excitability of DGCs activated in the home environment by shifting the input resistance towards lower values. Remarkably, that shunting inhibition is neither observed in non-activated DGCs nor in DGCs activated during training in virtual reality. In short, our results suggest that strong shunting inhibition and reduced excitability could constitute a distinctive neural signature of mature DGCs recruited in the context of the home environment.

齿状颗粒细胞（DGC）在学习和记忆中起着至关重要的作用。许多研究已经使用不同的行为环境描述了这些稀疏活跃神经元的作用和生理特性。但是，尚未确立在保持在其家笼中（未经训练）的小鼠中募集的DGC的形态功能特征，这被认为是基线疾病。使用fosGFP转基因小鼠，我们观察到离体在保持笼养状态的动物中募集的DGC是成熟的神经元，与未激活的细胞相比，它们显示出更长的树突树和更低的兴奋性。较高的GABA _A受体介导的分流抑制作用通过将输入电阻移向较低的值，从而降低了在家庭环境中激活的DGC的兴奋性。值得注意的是，在未激活的DGC中或在虚拟现实训练期间激活的DGC中均未观察到分流抑制。简而言之，我们的结果表明强烈的分流抑制作用和降低的兴奋性可能构成在家庭环境中招募的成熟DGC的独特神经特征。