title: Impaired hippocampal representation of space in CA1-specific NMDAR1 knockout mice.
abstract: To investigate the role of synaptic plasticity in the place-specific firing of the hippocampus, we have applied multiple electrode recording techniques to freely behaving mice with a CA1 pyramidal cell-specific knockout of the NMDAR1 gene. We have discovered that although the CA1 pyramidal cells of these mice retain place-related activity, there is a significant decrease in the spatial specificity of individual place fields. We have also found a striking deficit in the coordinated firing of pairs of neurons tuned to similar spatial locations. Pairs have uncorrelated firing even if their fields overlap. These results demonstrate that NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic plasticity is necessary for the proper representation of space in the CA1 region of the hippocampus.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Center for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139, USA.
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: McHugh
authors.forename: K I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Blum
authors.forename: J Z
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Tsien
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tonegawa
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D004594:Electrophysiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D016194:Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate