[Responses of hippocampal neurons during prolonged posttetanic potentiation]

Zh Vyssh Nerv Deiat Im I P Pavlova. 1979 Jan-Feb;29(1):141-50.
[Article in Russian]

Abstract

Unit responses to stimulation of septo-fimbrial area or fascia dentata were recorded in hippocampus of unanaesthetized rabbits with extra- and intracellular microelectrodes. Neuronal discharge index was found to increase or latency to decrease in 10 out of 28 neurones recorded as long as 3 min to 2.5 hours after tetanization (20/sec, 10 sec). Posttetanic increase in amplitude of excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSP) was fo-nd in 8 of 24 neurones recorded intra- and quasi-intracellularly. EPSP latencies were as short as 2 msec in two of these neurones suggesting the monosynaptic origin of the EPSPs. Decrease in excitability was found shortly after tetanization in two neurones tested with intracellular current injections. A tendency to long-lasting posttetanic hyperpolarizing shifts was noted. Thus a long-lasting post-tetanic potentiation (PTP) was revealed at the level of hippocampal single neurone responses. Intracellular analysis suggests an increase in effectiveness of excitatory synapses as a main mechanism of the PTP. No significant adequate changes at the postsynaptic level were found to explain the long-lasting hippocampal PTP.

Publication types

  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Electric Stimulation
  • Hippocampus / physiology*
  • Membrane Potentials
  • Neural Inhibition
  • Rabbits
  • Reaction Time / physiology
  • Septum Pellucidum / physiology