title: The Effects of Acute GABA Treatment on the Functional Connectivity and Network Topology of Cortical Cultures.
abstract: γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an inhibitory transmitter, acting on receptor channels to reduce neuronal excitability in matured neural systems. However, electrophysiological responses of whole neuronal ensembles to the exposure to GABA are still unclear. We used micro-electrode arrays (MEAs) to study the effects of the increasing amount of GABA on functional network of cortical neural cultures. Then the recorded data were analyzed by the cross-covariance analysis and graph theory. Results showed that after the GABA treatment, the activity parameters of firing rate, bursting rate, bursting duration and network burst frequency in neural cultures decreased as expected. In addition, the functional connectivity also decreased in similarity, network density, and the size of the largest component. However, small-worldness was not found to be influenced by the acute GABA treatment. Our results support the position that using graph theory to evaluate the functional connectivity of neural cultures may enhance understanding of the pharmacological impact of neurotransmitters on neuronal networks.
authors.affiliation: Department of advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yiran
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: Department of advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hongji
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Neural Interface& Rehabilitation Technology Research Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Neural Interface& Rehabilitation Technology Research Center, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430074, China.
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jiuqi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qiyu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China. sisun819@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China. wcy2000_te@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Changyong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
keywords: Connectivity; Graph theory; Microelectrode arrays; Neural culture