Sleep deprivation impairs long-term potentiation in rat hippocampal slices.
To determine if 12-h sleep deprivation disrupts neural plasticity, we compared long-term potentiation (LTP) in five sleep-deprived and five control rats. Thirty minutes after tetanus population spike amplitude increased 101 +/- 15% in 16 slices from sleep deprived rats and 139 +/- 14% in 14 slices from control rats. This significant (P < 0.05) reduction of LTP, the first demonstration that the sleep deprivation protocol impairs plasticity in adult rats, may be due to several factors. Reduced LTP may indicate that sleep provides a period of recuperation for cellular processes underlying neural plasticity. Alternatively, the stress of sleep deprivation, as indicated by elevated blood corticosterone levels, or other non-sleep-specific factors of deprivation may contribute to the LTP reduction.
Campbell
I G
IG
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Davis, 95616, USA. igcampbell@ucdavis.edu
Guinan
M J
MJ
Horowitz
J M
JM
D000818:Animals; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology; D004594:Electrophysiology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D017774:Long-Term Potentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012892:Sleep Deprivation; D009435:Synaptic Transmission
D003345:Corticosterone