Long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus enhances the ability of a stimulus to produce cell firing, not only by increasing the strength of the EPSPs, but also by increasing the efficiency of the input/output (I/O) function of pyramidal neurons. This means that EPSPs of a given size more easily elicit spikes after LTP, a process known as EPSP-spike (E-S) potentiation. In contrast to LTP, ...

The relationship between the long-lasting enhancement of synaptic transmission produced by a phorbol ester and the release of endogenous excitatory amino acids has been investigated in the CA1 hippocampal region of the anaesthetized rat. Using the push-pull technique, the concentration of glutamate and aspartate was assayed in the perfusate by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Application of...

Long-term changes in synaptic transmission in slices of rat visual cortex were induced either by pairing the excitatory postsynaptic potentials with postsynaptic depolarization or by intracellular tetanization without synaptic stimulation. Changes in the excitatory postsynaptic potential amplitude induced by any of the protocols applied in isolation persisted for longer than 1 h. Pairing-induce...

A neural synapse circuit design is presented here. The circuit models the result of an action potential applied to a biological synapse, including neurotransmitter action, membrane potentials, and ion pumps. The output of the circuit is an Excitatory PostSynaptic Potential (EPSP). The circuit is simulated using carbon nanotube SPICE models.

Primary afferent fibers from the electroreceptors of mormyrid electric fish use a latency code to signal the intensity of electrical current evoked by the fish's own electric organ discharge (EOD). The afferent fibers terminate centrally in the deep and superficial granular layers of the electrosensory lobe with morphologically mixed chemical-electrical synapses. The granular cells in these lay...

introduction: previous studies indicate that exercise influences cognitive function. nevertheless, considering that exercise in animal study can be voluntary, or forced, effects of exercise (specially forced exercise) on learning and memory abides as a matter of controversy. the present study aimed to investigate the effects of treadmill exercise on ltp in the dentate gyrus of rats. methods: th...

Learning-correlated plasticity at CA1 hippocampal excitatory synapses is dependent on neuronal activity and NMDA receptor (NMDAR) activation. However, the molecular mechanisms that transduce plasticity stimuli to postsynaptic potentiation are poorly understood. Here, we report that neurogranin (Ng), a neuron-specific and postsynaptic protein, enhances postsynaptic sensitivity and increases syna...

1. An in vitro slice preparation of rat prefrontal cortex was used to analyse the responses of layer V pyramidal cells to electrical stimulation of layer II. We also studied the long-lasting modifications of synaptic efficacy following high-frequency stimulation of the same region. 2. Stable intracellular recordings were obtained from forty-three regular spiking pyramidal cells. The input resis...

Using intracellular recordings in an isolated (in vitro) brain stem preparation, we examined the inhibitory postsynaptic responses of developing neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the rat. As early as postnatal day (P) 1-2, 31% of all excitatory postsynaptic (EPSP) activity evoked by electrical stimulation of the optic tract was followed by inhibitory postsynaptic potenti...

Single action potentials (APs) backpropagate into the higher-order dendrites of striatal spiny projection neurons during cortically driven "up" states. The timing of these backpropagating APs relative to the arriving corticostriatal excitatory inputs determines changes in dendritic calcium concentration. The question arises to whether this spike-timing relative to cortical excitatory inputs can...