Cerebral Cortex Advance Access originally published online on July 28, 2008
Cerebral Cortex 2009 19(3):688-696; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhn115
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NMDA Receptors Pattern Early Activity in the Developing Barrel Cortex In Vivo
The Mediterranean Institute of Neurobiology, Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale U901, Universite’ Mediterreneen, Marseille, France
Address correspondence to Roustem Khazipov, MD, PhD, INSERM U901/Inmed, 163 route de Luminy B.P. 13, 13273 Marseille, France. Email: khazipov{at}inmed.univ-mrs.fr.
N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type of glutamate receptors play an important role in activity-dependent plasticity in the developing cortex. However, the physiological patterns of cortical activity that activate NMDA receptors in vivo remain largely unknown. We performed full-band recordings from the barrel cortex of neonatal rats in vivo and found that the dominant pattern of the early activity, network driven spindle bursts, are associated with large amplitude NMDA receptor–dependent delta waves. The major sink of delta waves was in the dense cortical plate, which coincided with the sinks of sensory-evoked responses as well as fast spindle-burst oscillations. Pharmacological analysis revealed major contributions from NMDA and alpha-aminopropionate (AMPA) type of glutamate receptors in the generation of delta waves, whereas fast oscillations primarily involved only AMPA receptors. Our results suggest that the 2 component spindle burst is generated by rhythmic, presumably thalamocortical, synaptic input which entrains an AMPA receptor-mediated fast oscillation and who's summation generates an NMDA and AMPA receptor mediated delta wave. The massive summation of thalamocortical activity during the spindle bursts thus provides a long time window for co-incident activation of cortical neurons by the thalamocortical cells which may contribute to the formation of thalamocortical synapses in the barrel cortex during the critical period of developmental plasticity.
Key Words: delta-brush • delta waves • electroencephalography • neonate • NMDA • rat
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  A. Evrard and N. Ropert Early Development of the Thalamic Inhibitory Feedback Loop in the Primary Somatosensory System of the Newborn Mice J. Neurosci., August 5, 2009; 29(31): 9930 - 9940. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J.-W. Yang, I. L. Hanganu-Opatz, J.-J. Sun, and H. J. Luhmann Three Patterns of Oscillatory Activity Differentially Synchronize Developing Neocortical Networks In Vivo J. Neurosci., July 15, 2009; 29(28): 9011 - 9025. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|