Long-term potentiation in slices of kitten visual cortex and the effects of NMDA receptor blockade.

1. A slice preparation was used to study layer III field potentials (FPs) evoked by electrical stimulation of the white matter-layer VI border and their potentiation by patterned stimuli. 2. The dependence of the FP on recording position was investigated. The maximum field was recorded in layer III at a position radial to the site of stimulation. Because this negative FP reflects an excitatory synaptic current sink, this site was chosen for all subsequent experiments. 3. Under normal recording conditions, components of the layer III FP with latencies greater than 3 ms were completely abolished by kynurenate but unaffected by 2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (AP5), indicating that this potential reflects the activation of non-NMDA excitatory amino acid receptors. 4. Addition of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptor antagonist bicuculline methiodide (BMI) broadened the field potential and revealed an AP5-sensitive component. By filling the recording pipette with BMI, it was possible to substantially reduce inhibition locally around the recording site while avoiding stimulus-driven and spontaneous epileptiform activity. 5. Tetanic stimulation elicited a long-term potentiation (LTP) of the FP in 14 of 17 experiments when the BMI-filled pipette method was used. 6. Addition of 100 microM D,L-AP5 significantly reduced the average probability and magnitude of LTP. Nonetheless, in 2 of 8 experiments, significant LTP was observed after a tetanus in the presence of AP5. Control experiments confirmed that this concentration of AP5 was sufficient to maximally block cortical NMDA receptors. 7. We conclude that LTP of layer III field potentials can be reliably elicited, provided that GABAA-receptor mediated inhibition is blocked locally at the site of recording and that NMDA receptors are recruited during the conditioning stimulation. However, activation of NMDA receptors is apparently not an obligatory step for the induction of use-dependent increases in synaptic strength in the kitten striate cortex.