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Cerebral Cortex Advance Access published online on February 4, 2009
Cerebral Cortex, doi:10.1093/cercor/bhn247
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Input Specificity and Dependence of Spike Timing–Dependent Plasticity on Preceding Postsynaptic Activity at Unitary Connections between Neocortical Layer 2/3 Pyramidal Cells

Misha Zilberter1,2, Carl Holmgren3,4, Isaac Shemer1, Gilad Silberberg1, Sten Grillner1, Tibor Harkany2,5 and Yuri Zilberter1,4

1 Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-17177 Stockholm, Sweden, 2 Division of Molecular Neurobiology, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, SE-17177 Stockholm, Sweden, 3 Department of Experimental Neurophysiology, CNCR, Vrije Universiteit, NL-1081HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 4 Institut de Neurobiologie de la Mediterranee (INMED), F-13273 Marseille Cedex 09, France, 5 Institute of Medical Sciences, College of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB25 2ZD, UK

Address correspondence to Dr Yuri Zilberter, Institut de Neurobiologie de la Méditerranée (INMED), Inserm U29, Parc Scientifique de Luminy, 13273 Marseille Cedex 09, France. Email: zilberter{at}inmed.univ-mrs.fr.

Layer 2/3 (L2/3) pyramidal cells receive excitatory afferent input both from neighbouring pyramidal cells and from cortical and subcortical regions. The efficacy of these excitatory synaptic inputs is modulated by spike timing–dependent plasticity (STDP). Here we report that synaptic connections between L2/3 pyramidal cell pairs are located proximal to the soma, at sites overlapping those of excitatory inputs from other cortical layers. Nevertheless, STDP at L2/3 pyramidal to pyramidal cell connections showed fundamental differences from known STDP rules at these neighbouring contacts. Coincident low-frequency pre- and postsynaptic activation evoked only LTD, independent of the order of the pre- and postsynaptic cell firing. This symmetric anti-Hebbian STDP switched to a typical Hebbian learning rule if a postsynaptic action potential train occurred prior to the presynaptic stimulation. Receptor dependence of LTD and LTP induction and their pre- or postsynaptic loci also differed from those at other L2/3 pyramidal cell excitatory inputs. Overall, we demonstrate a novel means to switch between STDP rules dependent on the history of postsynaptic activity. We also highlight differences in STDP at excitatory synapses onto L2/3 pyramidal cells which allow for input specific modulation of synaptic gain.

Key Words: neocortex • pyramidal cells • synaptic plasticity

Misha Zilberter and Carl Holmgren have contributed equally to this work. Dr. Harkany and Dr. Zilberter share senior authorship.


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