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Long-term Potentiation of Perforant Pathway-dentate Gyrus Synapse in Freely Behaving Mice

Studies of long-term potentiation of synaptic efficacy, an activity-dependent synaptic phenomenon having properties that make it attractive as a potential ...

Trinity College

We investigated the frequency-dependent transition from homosynaptic long-term depression (LTD) to long-term potentiation (LTP) at the lateral perforant pathway/dentate gyrus synapse in adult (90 days of age) and immature (15 days of age) awake, freely moving rats. Dentate-evoked field potentials were recorded and analyzed using the population spike amplitude and the field EPSP slope measures following sustained stimulation (900 pulses) of the lateral perforant pathway at various frequencies (1, 3, 7, 30, 50, or 200 Hz). Our results indicate that both the strength and the direction (LTP or LTD) of synaptic plasticity vary as a function of activation frequency: sustained low-frequency stimulation ranging from 1 to 7 Hz results in depression of activated synapses, whereas high-frequency stimulation (30-200 Hz) produces potentiation. In addition, a significant (P < 0.01) ontogenetic shift in the frequency of transition from LTD to LTP was observed; the transition frequency in immature animals was significantly lower than that obtained in adult animals. These observations agree strongly with the prediction of the Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro theory of synapse modification, indicating perhaps a neurophysiological basis for this theoretical model of learning in the dentate gyrus of awake behaving rats.

Effects of stimulus frequency and age on bidirectional synaptic plasticity in the dentate gyrus of freely moving rats.

There is significant interest in in vivo synaptic plasticity in mice due to the many relevant genetic mutants now available. Nevertheless, use of in vivo models remains limited. To date long-term potentiation (LTP) has been studied infrequently, and long-term depression (LTD) has not been characterized in the mouse in vivo. Herein we describe protocols and improved methodologies we developed to record hippocampal synaptic plasticity reliably from the dentate gyrus of the awake freely behaving mouse. Seven days prior to recording, we implanted microelectrodes encapsulated within a lightweight, low profile head stage assembly. On the day of recording, we induced either LTP or LTD in the awake freely behaving animal, and monitored subsequent changes in population spike amplitude for at least 24h. Using this protocol we attained 80% success in inducing and maintaining either LTP or LTD. Recording from a chronic implant using this improved methodology is best suited to reveal naturally occurring brain activity and avoids both acute effects of local electrode insertion and drifts in neuronal excitability associated with anesthesia. Ultimately a reliable freely behaving mouse model of bi-directional synaptic plasticity is invaluable for full characterization of genetic models of disease states and manipulations of the mechanisms implicated in learning and memory.

Bidirectional synaptic plasticity in the dentate gyrus of the awake freely behaving mouse.

The basolateral amygdala (BLA) is known to be involved in emotional and stress responses, while the dentate gyrus (DG), a subfield of the hippocampus, is implicated in learning and memory. Together, the BLA-DG neuronal pathway is thought to link memory with emotional and physiological stress responses. To assess whether neonatal isolation, a known early life stressor, has enduring effects on bidirectional neuroplasticity in adulthood, changes in long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) of BLA-DG synapses were recorded in neonatally isolated and non-handled freely behaving adult male rats. Rats isolated (ISO) from their mother and each other for 1 h daily from postnatal days 2-9 were allowed to mature to adulthood at which time they were chronically implanted with stimulating electrodes in the BLA and recording electrodes in the DG via stereotaxic surgery. A second group of rats which received no isolation treatment and which were not handled (NH) during the neonatal period underwent the same surgical procedures and served as the control group. Following a 1-week postsurgical recovery period, either LTP (100-pulse, 5-Hz theta-burst stimulation [TBS]) or LTD (900-pulse, 1-Hz low-frequency stimulation [LFS]) was induced in the DG of both groups. ISO rats showed significantly enhanced levels of both LTP and LTD compared to NH counterparts. These results indicate that neonatal isolation stress alters bidirectional neural plasticity in BLA-DG synapses, which may help to clarify the development of neural mechanisms linking emotional and stress responses in the amygdala with memory consolidation and information processing in the hippocampus.

Neonatal isolation stress alters bidirectional long-term synaptic plasticity in amygdalo-hippocampal synapses in freely behaving adult rats.

Ketogenic diets are very low in carbohydrates and can reduce epileptic seizures significantly. This dietary therapy is particularly effective in pediatric and drug-resistant epilepsy. Hypothesized anticonvulsant mechanisms of ketogenic diets focus on increased inhibition and/or decreased excitability/excitation. Either of these consequences might not only reduce seizures, but also could affect normal brain function and synaptic plasticity. Here, we characterized effects of a ketogenic diet on hippocampal long-term potentiation, a widely studied form of synaptic plasticity. Adult male rats were placed on a control or ketogenic diet for 3 wk before recording. To maintain the most physiological conditions possible, we assessed synaptic transmission and plasticity using chronic in vivo recordings in freely behaving animals. Rats underwent stereotaxic surgery to chronically implant a recording electrode in the hippocampal dentate gyrus and a stimulating electrode in the perforant path; they recovered for 1 wk. After habituation and stable baseline recording, 5-Hz theta-burst stimulation was delivered to induce long-term potentiation. All animals showed successful plasticity, demonstrating that potentiation was not blocked by the ketogenic diet. Compared with rats fed a control diet, rats fed a ketogenic diet demonstrated significantly diminished long-term potentiation. This decreased potentiation lasted for at least 48 h. Reduced potentiation in ketogenic diet-fed rats is consistent with a general increase in neuronal inhibition (or decrease in excitability) and decreased seizure susceptibility. A better understanding of the effects of ketogenic diets on synaptic plasticity and learning is important, as diet-based therapy is often prescribed to children with epilepsy.

A ketogenic diet reduces long-term potentiation in the dentate gyrus of freely behaving rats.

Long-term potentiation (LTP) which has long been considered a cellular model for learning and memory is defined as a lasting enhancement in synaptic transmission efficacy. This cellular mechanism has been demonstrated reliably in the hippocampus and the amygdala-two limbic structures implicated in learning and memory. Earlier studies reported on the ability of cortical stimulation of the entorhinal cortex to induce LTP simultaneously in the two sites. However, to retain a stable baseline of comparison with the majority of the LTP literature, it is important to investigate the ability of fiber stimulation such as perforant path activation to induce LTP concurrently in both structures. Therefore, in this paper we report on concurrent LTP in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the dentate gyrus (DG) subfield of the hippocampus induced by theta burst stimulation of perforant path fibers in freely behaving Sprague-Dawley rats. Our results indicate that while perforant path-evoked potentials in both sites exhibit similar triphasic waveforms, the latency and amplitude of BLA responses were significantly shorter and smaller than those of DG. In addition, we observed no significant differences in either the peak level or the duration of LTP between DG and BLA.

J. Harry Blaise

Department of Engineering and Neuroscience Program

Trinity College

Long-term Potentiation of Perforant Pathway-dentate Gyrus Synapse in Freely Behaving Mice

J. Harry Blaise

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Department of Engineering and Neuroscience Program

Trinity College

Long-term Potentiation of Perforant Pathway-dentate Gyrus Synapse in Freely Behaving Mice

Department of Engineering and Neuroscience Program