title: Excitotoxic lesions of the pre- and parasubiculum disrupt the place fields of hippocampal pyramidal cells.
abstract: To determine what influence the pre- and parasubiculum regions of the hippocampal formation have on neural representations within the dorsal hippocampus, single-unit recordings were made as rats with bilateral ibotenic acid lesions centered on the former regions (n = 4) or control surgeries (n = 3) foraged freely. Spatial firing specificity was measured using an information content procedure. Cells from lesioned animals (n = 57) provided significantly less spatial information than cells from control animals (n = 44). Whereas some degree of location-related activity (place fields) was observed in 98% of neurons recorded from control animals, it was observed in only 65% of the neurons from lesioned animals. The spatial resolution of the intact place fields appeared to be compromised in lesioned animals as a result of their having a higher firing rate outside the place field. These findings indicate that the pre- and parasubiculum regions have a major role in maintaining the specificity of the place field firing of hippocampal pyramidal cells. Since previous data indicate that these lesioned animals displayed delay-dependent deficits in spatial tasks, these findings also suggest that a disruption in place field activity may be a causal factor in this spatial memory deficit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Neuroscience Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Leonard E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Jarrard
authors.forename: David K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Bilkey
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D003714:Denervation; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000293:injuries / Q000502:physiology* / Q000601:surgery; D007051:Ibotenic Acid; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000293:injuries / Q000502:physiology* / Q000601:surgery; D009498:Neurotoxins; D009949:Orientation / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D009498:Neurotoxins; D007051:Ibotenic Acid