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Cerebral Cortex Advance Access originally published online on April 27, 2004
Cerebral Cortex 2004 14(10):1081-1087; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhh067
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© Oxford University Press 2004

Article

Impaired Synaptic Plasticity in the Surround of Perinatally Aquired Dysplasia in Rat Cerebral Cortex

Oliver Peters1, Christoph Redecker2, Georg Hagemann2, Claus Bruehl2, Heiko J. Luhmann3 and Otto W. Witte2

1 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité — University Medicine Berlin, Benjamin Franklin Campus, Eschenallee 3, D-14050 Berlin, Germany, 2 Department of Neurology, Friedrich-Schiller University, Philosophenweg 3, D-07740 Jena, Germany, 3 Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Johannes-Gutenberg University, Duesbergweg 6, D-55128 Mainz, Germany

Freeze-lesion induced neocortical dysplasias in rats mimic numerous aspects of human polymicrogyria and are used as a model for the study of developmental migration disorders. Since memory tests have demonstrated learning deficits in rodents with neocortical malformations, we investigated the expression and properties of long-term potentiation (LTP) in neocortical slices from adult freeze-lesioned and control rats. Field potentials, recorded in layer II/III at a distance of 2–3 mm lateral to perinatally induced microgyri, were strongly enhanced following theta-burst stimulation in layer VI (amplitude: 174 ± 4%) compared to controls (110 ± 2%). In contrast, in layer IV of the freeze-lesioned cortex LTP could not reliably be induced. Histochemical analysis, performed to elucidate the cellular basis of the impaired plasticity, revealed diminished amounts of the GABAA-receptor subunit {gamma}2 in the paramicrogyral zone, likely representing a diminished GABA-ergic filter, which is thought to prevent LTP induced in layer VI under normal conditions. Cytochrome-oxidase staining after electrophysiological examination disclosed that LTP in layer IV of the freeze-lesioned cortex could only be elicited, when stimulation was applied within a preserved barrel cortex. Our study provides evidence that focal cryolesions during cortical development cause an impaired synaptic plasticity that may underlie learning disabilities.


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