Long-term potentiation across rat cerebello-thalamic synapses in vitro

Neurosci Lett. 2000 Jun 23;287(2):151-5. doi: 10.1016/s0304-3940(00)01162-9.

Abstract

We previously demonstrated that rat cerebello-thalamic synapses undergo an ultrastructural change, consistent with expression of long-term potentiation, in association with motor adaptation. The aim of these experiments was to determine if long-term potentiation can be expressed at these synapses physiologically. Excitatory post-synaptic potentials evoked by electrical stimulation of cut cerebello-thalamic afferents were recorded intracellularly from thalamic neurons in 17-24 day old rat brain slice preparations. The experimental protocol involved long periods of low frequency single-shock control stimuli interrupted by brief high frequency trains of conditioning stimuli. Conditioning at 100 Hz evoked long-term potentiation in 5/6 cells and long-term depression in 1/6 cells. Conditioning at 200 Hz was unsuccessful in evoking long-term potentiation but did evoke long-term depression in 1/3 cells and no change in 2/3 cells. We conclude that long-term potentiation can be evoked across rat cerebello-thalamic synapses in vitro.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cerebellum / cytology*
  • Cerebellum / physiology
  • Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / physiology
  • Long-Term Potentiation / physiology*
  • Microelectrodes
  • Neural Pathways
  • Neuronal Plasticity / physiology
  • Organ Culture Techniques
  • Rats
  • Synapses / physiology*
  • Thalamus / cytology*
  • Thalamus / physiology