Temperature change-induced potentiation: a comparative study of facilitatory mechanisms in aged and young rat hippocampal slices.
The effect of temperature changes in the medium on the evoked potentials of pyramidal neurons in response to the electrical stimulation of Schaffer collaterals was investigated in both young (one to two months) and aged (24-28 months) rat hippocampal slices. Temperature increase was shown to reduce, and subsequent temperature decrease to enhance, the population spike amplitude in both young and aged rats. Temperature decrease produced a long-lasting (> 30 min) and important potentiation (180%) of population spike amplitude in young but not in aged rats. Long-term post-tetanic potentiation was maintained in young but suppressed in aged rats by temperature changes. The impairment of temperature-induced potentiation in aged rats is suggested as a tool for studying promnesic drugs.
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D003080:Cold Temperature; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013696:Temperature