title: Recurrent excitatory postsynaptic potentials induced by synchronized fast cortical oscillations.
abstract: Gamma frequency (about 20-70 Hz) oscillations occur during novel sensory stimulation, with tight synchrony over distances of at least 7 mm. Synchronization in the visual system has been proposed to reflect coactivation of different parts of the visual field by a single spatially extended object. We have shown that intracortical mechanisms, including spike doublet firing by interneurons, can account for tight long-range synchrony. Here we show that synchronous gamma oscillations in two sites also can cause long-lasting (>1 hr) potentiation of recurrent excitatory synapses. Synchronous oscillations lasting >400 ms in hippocampal area CA1 are associated with an increase in both excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) amplitude and action potential afterhyperpolarization size. The resulting EPSPs stabilize and synchronize a prolonged beta frequency (about 10-25 Hz) oscillation. The changes in EPSP size are not expressed during non-oscillatory behavior but reappear during subsequent gamma-oscillatory events. We propose that oscillation-induced EPSPs serve as a substrate for memory, whose expression either enhances or blocks synchronization of spatially separated sites. This phenomenon thus provides a dynamical mechanism for storage and retrieval of stimulus-specific neuronal assemblies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Imperial College School of Medicine at St. Mary's, London W2 1PG, United Kingdom. m.whittington@sm.ic.ac.uk
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Whittington
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Traub
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Faulkner
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Stanford
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Jefferys
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009431:Neural Conduction; D010507:Periodicity; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D011810:Quinoxalines / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D009435:Synaptic Transmission; D013746:Tetany
chemical_list: D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D011810:Quinoxalines; C062865:2,3-dioxo-6-nitro-7-sulfamoylbenzo(f)quinoxaline