Spike Train Timing-Dependent Associative Modification of Hippocampal CA3 Recurrent Synapses by Mossy Fibers

Short term plasticity at hippocampal mossy fiber synapses

Short-term synaptic plasticity refers to the regulation of synapses by their past activity on time scales of milliseconds to minutes. Hippocampal mossy fiber synapses onto CA3 pyramidal cells (Mf-CA3 synapses) are endowed with remarkable forms of short-term synaptic plasticity expressed as facilitation of synaptic release by a factor of up to ten-fold. Three main forms of short-term plasticity are distinguished: 1) Frequency facilitation, which includes low frequency facilitation and train facilitation, operating in the range of tens of milliseconds to several seconds; 2) Post-tetanic potentiation triggered by trains of high frequency stimulation, which lasts several minutes; 3) Finally, depolarization-induced potentiation of excitation, based on retrograde signaling, with an onset and offset of several minutes. Here we describe the proposed mechanisms for short-term plasticity, mainly based on the kinetics of presynaptic Ca2+ transients and the Ca2+ sensor synaptotagmin 7, on cAMP-dependent mechanisms and readily releasable vesicle pool, and on the regulation of presynaptic K+ channels. We then review evidence for a physiological function of short-term plasticity of Mf-CA3 synapses in information transfer between the dentate gyrus and CA3 in conditions of natural spiking, and discuss how short-term plasticity counteracts robust feedforward inhibition in a frequency-dependent manner. Although DG-CA3 connections have long been proposed to play a role in memory, direct evidence for an implication of short-term plasticity at Mf-CA3 synapses is mostly lacking. The mechanistic knowledge gained on short-term plasticity at Mf-CA3 synapses should help in designing future experiments to directly test how this evolutionary conserved feature controls hippocampal circuit function in behavioural conditions.

Structure, biophysics, and circuit function of a "giant" cortical presynaptic terminal

The hippocampal mossy fiber synapse, formed between axons of dentate gyrus granule cells and dendrites of CA3 pyramidal neurons, is a key synapse in the trisynaptic circuitry of the hippocampus. Because of its comparatively large size, this synapse is accessible to direct presynaptic recording, allowing a rigorous investigation of the biophysical mechanisms of synaptic transmission and plasticity. Furthermore, because of its placement in the very center of the hippocampal memory circuit, this synapse seems to be critically involved in several higher network functions, such as learning, memory, pattern separation, and pattern completion. Recent work based on new technologies in both nanoanatomy and nanophysiology, including presynaptic patch-clamp recording, paired recording, super-resolution light microscopy, and freeze-fracture and "flash-and-freeze" electron microscopy, has provided new insights into the structure, biophysics, and network function of this intriguing synapse. This brings us one step closer to answering a fundamental question in neuroscience: how basic synaptic properties shape higher network computations.

Early deficits in dentate circuit and behavioral pattern separation after concussive brain injury

Traumatic brain injury leads to cellular and circuit changes in the dentate gyrus, a gateway to hippocampal information processing. Intrinsic granule cell firing properties and strong feedback inhibition in the dentate are proposed as critical to its ability to generate unique representation of similar inputs by a process known as pattern separation. Here we evaluate the impact of brain injury on cellular decorrelation of temporally patterned inputs in slices and behavioral discrimination of spatial locations in vivo one week after concussive lateral fluid percussion injury (FPI) in mice. Despite posttraumatic increases in perforant path evoked excitatory drive to granule cells and enhanced ΔFosB labeling, indicating sustained increase in excitability, the reliability of granule cell spiking was not compromised after FPI. Although granule cells continued to effectively decorrelate output spike trains recorded in response to similar temporally patterned input sets after FPI, their ability to decorrelate highly similar input patterns was reduced. In parallel, encoding of similar spatial locations in a novel object location task that involves the dentate inhibitory circuits was impaired one week after FPI. Injury induced changes in pattern separation were accompanied by loss of somatostatin expressing inhibitory neurons in the hilus. Together, these data suggest that the early posttraumatic changes in the dentate circuit undermine dentate circuit decorrelation of temporal input patterns as well as behavioral discrimination of similar spatial locations, both of which could contribute to deficits in episodic memory.

A Pathogenic Missense Mutation in Kainate Receptors Elevates Dendritic Excitability and Synaptic Integration through Dysregulation of SK Channels

Numerous rare variants that cause neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) occur within genes encoding synaptic proteins, including ionotropic glutamate receptors. However, in many cases, it remains unclear how damaging missense variants affect brain function. We determined the physiological consequences of an NDD causing missense mutation in the GRIK2 kainate receptor (KAR) gene, that results in a single amino acid change p.Ala657Thr in the GluK2 receptor subunit. We engineered this mutation in the mouse Grik2 gene, yielding a GluK2(A657T) mouse, and studied mice of both sexes to determine how hippocampal neuronal function is disrupted. Synaptic KAR currents in hippocampal CA3 pyramidal neurons from heterozygous A657T mice exhibited slow decay kinetics, consistent with incorporation of the mutant subunit into functional receptors. Unexpectedly, CA3 neurons demonstrated elevated action potential spiking because of downregulation of the small-conductance Ca2+ activated K+ channel (SK), which mediates the post-spike afterhyperpolarization. The reduction in SK activity resulted in increased CA3 dendritic excitability, increased EPSP-spike coupling, and lowered the threshold for the induction of LTP of the associational-commissural synapses in CA3 neurons. Pharmacological inhibition of SK channels in WT mice increased dendritic excitability and EPSP-spike coupling, mimicking the phenotype in A657T mice and suggesting a causative role for attenuated SK activity in aberrant excitability observed in the mutant mice. These findings demonstrate that a disease-associated missense mutation in GRIK2 leads to altered signaling through neuronal KARs, pleiotropic effects on neuronal and dendritic excitability, and implicate these processes in neuropathology in patients with genetic NDDs.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Damaging mutations in genes encoding synaptic proteins have been identified in various neurodevelopmental disorders, but the functional consequences at the cellular and circuit level remain elusive. By generating a novel knock-in mutant mouse, this study examined the role of a pathogenic mutation in the GluK2 kainate receptor (KAR) subunit, a subclass of ionotropic glutamate receptors. Analyses of hippocampal CA3 pyramidal neurons determined elevated action potential firing because of an increase in dendritic excitability. Increased dendritic excitability was attributable to reduced activity of a Ca2+ activated K+ channel. These results indicate that a pathogenic KAR mutation results in dysregulation of dendritic K+ channels, which leads to an increase in synaptic integration and backpropagation of action potentials into distal dendrites.

Early Deficits in Dentate Circuit and Behavioral Pattern Separation after Concussive Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury leads to cellular and circuit changes in the dentate gyrus, a gateway to hippocampal information processing. Intrinsic granule cell firing properties and strong feedback inhibition in the dentate are proposed as critical to its ability to generate unique representation of similar inputs by a process known as pattern separation. Here we evaluate the impact of brain injury on cellular decorrelation of temporally patterned inputs in slices and behavioral discrimination of spatial locations in vivo one week after concussive lateral fluid percussion injury (FPI) in mice. Despite posttraumatic increases in perforant path evoked excitatory drive to granule cells and enhanced ΔFosB labeling, indicating sustained increase in excitability, the reliability of granule cell spiking was not compromised after FPI. Although granule cells continued to effectively decorrelate output spike trains recorded in response to similar temporally patterned input sets after FPI, their ability to decorrelate highly similar input patterns was reduced. In parallel, encoding of similar spatial locations in a novel object location task that involves the dentate inhibitory circuits was impaired one week after FPI. Injury induced changes in pattern separation were accompanied by loss of somatostatin expressing inhibitory neurons in the hilus. Together, these data suggest that the early posttraumatic changes in the dentate circuit undermine dentate circuit decorrelation of temporal input patterns as well as behavioral discrimination of similar spatial locations, both of which could contribute to deficits in episodic memory.

Correcting the hebbian mistake: Toward a fully error-driven hippocampus

The hippocampus plays a critical role in the rapid learning of new episodic memories. Many computational models propose that the hippocampus is an autoassociator that relies on Hebbian learning (i.e., "cells that fire together, wire together"). However, Hebbian learning is computationally suboptimal as it does not learn in a way that is driven toward, and limited by, the objective of achieving effective retrieval. Thus, Hebbian learning results in more interference and a lower overall capacity. Our previous computational models have utilized a powerful, biologically plausible form of error-driven learning in hippocampal CA1 and entorhinal cortex (EC) (functioning as a sparse autoencoder) by contrasting local activity states at different phases in the theta cycle. Based on specific neural data and a recent abstract computational model, we propose a new model called Theremin (Total Hippocampal ERror MINimization) that extends error-driven learning to area CA3-the mnemonic heart of the hippocampal system. In the model, CA3 responds to the EC monosynaptic input prior to the EC disynaptic input through dentate gyrus (DG), giving rise to a temporal difference between these two activation states, which drives error-driven learning in the EC→CA3 and CA3↔CA3 projections. In effect, DG serves as a teacher to CA3, correcting its patterns into more pattern-separated ones, thereby reducing interference. Results showed that Theremin, compared with our original Hebbian-based model, has significantly increased capacity and learning speed. The model makes several novel predictions that can be tested in future studies.

Optogenetic stimulation of CA3 pyramidal neurons restores synaptic deficits to improve spatial short-term memory in APP/PS1 mice

The hippocampal CA3 region, that is involved in the encoding and retrieval of spatial memory, is found to be synaptically impaired in the early-onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is reported optogenetic manipulation of DG or CA1 can rescue the memory impairment of APP/PS1 mice, however, how CA3 region contributes to AD-related deficits in cognitive function is still unknown. Our work shows optogenetic stimulation of CA3 pyramidal neurons (PNs) significantly restores the impaired spatial short-term memory of APP/PS1 mice. This enhances the anatomical synaptic density/strength and synaptic plasticity as well as activates astrocytes. Chemogenetic inhibiting the activity of CA3 astrocytes reverses the effect of optogenetic stimulation of CA3 PNs that leads to reduced anatomical synaptic density/strength, decreased synaptic protein and AMPA receptors GluA3/4, thus disrupting the cognitive restoration of APP/PS1 mice. These results reveal the molecular mechanism of optogenetic activation of CA3 PNs on restoration of the spatial short-term memory of APP/PS1 mice and unveil a potential strategy of manipulating CA3 for AD treatment.

Self-backpropagation of synaptic modifications elevates the efficiency of spiking and artificial neural networks

Many synaptic plasticity rules found in natural circuits have not been incorporated into artificial neural networks (ANNs). We showed that incorporating a nonlocal feature of synaptic plasticity found in natural neural networks, whereby synaptic modification at output synapses of a neuron backpropagates to its input synapses made by upstream neurons, markedly reduced the computational cost without affecting the accuracy of spiking neural networks (SNNs) and ANNs in supervised learning for three benchmark tasks. For SNNs, synaptic modification at output neurons generated by spike timing–dependent plasticity was allowed to self-propagate to limited upstream synapses. For ANNs, modified synaptic weights via conventional backpropagation algorithm at output neurons self-backpropagated to limited upstream synapses. Such self-propagating plasticity may produce coordinated synaptic modifications across neuronal layers that reduce computational cost.

Separable actions of acetylcholine and noradrenaline on neuronal ensemble formation in hippocampal CA3 circuits

In the hippocampus, episodic memories are thought to be encoded by the formation of ensembles of synaptically coupled CA3 pyramidal cells driven by sparse but powerful mossy fiber inputs from dentate gyrus granule cells. The neuromodulators acetylcholine and noradrenaline are separately proposed as saliency signals that dictate memory encoding but it is not known if they represent distinct signals with separate mechanisms. Here, we show experimentally that acetylcholine, and to a lesser extent noradrenaline, suppress feed-forward inhibition and enhance Excitatory-Inhibitory ratio in the mossy fiber pathway but CA3 recurrent network properties are only altered by acetylcholine. We explore the implications of these findings on CA3 ensemble formation using a hierarchy of models. In reconstructions of CA3 pyramidal cells, mossy fiber pathway disinhibition facilitates postsynaptic dendritic depolarization known to be required for synaptic plasticity at CA3-CA3 recurrent synapses. We further show in a spiking neural network model of CA3 how acetylcholine-specific network alterations can drive rapid overlapping ensemble formation. Thus, through these distinct sets of mechanisms, acetylcholine and noradrenaline facilitate the formation of neuronal ensembles in CA3 that encode salient episodic memories in the hippocampus but acetylcholine selectively enhances the density of memory storage.

Signalling pathways contributing to learning and memory deficits in the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down syndrome

Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic trisomic disorder that produces life-long changes in physiology and cognition. Many of the changes in learning and memory seen in DS are reminiscent of disorders involving the hippocampal/entorhinal circuit. Mouse models of DS typically involve trisomy of murine chromosome 16 is homologous for many of the genes triplicated in human trisomy 21, and provide us with good models of changes in, and potential pharmacotherapy for, human DS. Recent careful dissection of the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS has revealed differences in key signalling pathways from the basal forebrain to the hippocampus and associated rhinal cortices, as well as changes in the microstructure of the hippocampus itself. In vivo behavioural and electrophysiological studies have shown that Ts65Dn animals have difficulties in spatial memory that mirror hippocampal deficits, and have changes in hippocampal electrophysiological phenomenology that may explain these differences, and align with expectations generated from in vitro exploration of this model. Finally, given the existing data, we will examine the possibility for pharmacotherapy for DS, and outline the work that remains to be done to fully understand this system.

Mechanisms Underlying Memory Consolidation by Adult-Born Neurons During Sleep

The mammalian hippocampus generates new neurons that incorporate into existing neuronal networks throughout the lifespan, which bestows a unique form of cellular plasticity to the memory system. Recently, we found that hippocampal adult-born neurons (ABNs) that were active during learning reactivate during subsequent rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and provided causal evidence that ABN activity during REM sleep is necessary for memory consolidation. Here, we describe the potential underlying mechanisms by highlighting distinct characteristics of ABNs including decoupled firing from local oscillations and ability to undergo profound synaptic remodeling in response to experience. We further discuss whether ABNs constitute the conventional definition of engram cells by focusing on their active and passive roles in the memory system. This synthesis of evidence helps advance our thinking on the unique mechanisms by which ABNs contribute to memory consolidation.

Dentate gyrus circuits for encoding, retrieval and discrimination of episodic memories

The dentate gyrus (DG) has a key role in hippocampal memory formation. Intriguingly, DG lesions impair many, but not all, hippocampus-dependent mnemonic functions, indicating that the rest of the hippocampus (CA1-CA3) can operate autonomously under certain conditions. An extensive body of theoretical work has proposed how the architectural elements and various cell types of the DG may underlie its function in cognition. Recent studies recorded and manipulated the activity of different neuron types in the DG during memory tasks and have provided exciting new insights into the mechanisms of DG computational processes, particularly for the encoding, retrieval and discrimination of similar memories. Here, we review these DG-dependent mnemonic functions in light of the new findings and explore mechanistic links between the cellular and network properties of, and the computations performed by, the DG.

Glutamate Imaging Reveals Multiple Sites of Stochastic Release in the CA3 Giant Mossy Fiber Boutons

One of the most studied central synapses which have provided fundamental insights into cellular mechanisms of neural connectivity is the “giant” excitatory connection between hippocampal mossy fibers (MFs) and CA3 pyramidal cells. Its large presynaptic bouton features multiple release sites and is densely packed with thousands of synaptic vesicles, to sustain a highly facilitating “detonator” transmission. However, whether glutamate release sites at this synapse act independently, in a stochastic manner, or rather synchronously, remains poorly understood. This knowledge is critical for a better understanding of mechanisms underpinning presynaptic plasticity and postsynaptic signal integration rules. Here, we use the optical glutamate sensor SF-iGluSnFR and the intracellular Ca²⁺ indicator Cal-590 to monitor spike-evoked glutamate release and presynaptic calcium entry in MF boutons. Multiplexed imaging reveals that distinct sites in individual MF giant boutons release glutamate in a probabilistic fashion, also showing use-dependent short-term facilitation. The present approach provides novel insights into the basic mechanisms of neurotransmitter release at excitatory synapses.

Intracellular Zn2+ Signaling Facilitates Mossy Fiber Input-Induced Heterosynaptic Potentiation of Direct Cortical Inputs in Hippocampal CA3 Pyramidal Cells

Repetitive action potentials (APs) in hippocampal CA3 pyramidal cells (CA3-PCs) backpropagate to distal apical dendrites, and induce calcium and protein tyrosine kinase (PTK)-dependent downregulation of Kv1.2, resulting in long-term potentiation of direct cortical inputs and intrinsic excitability (LTP-IE). When APs were elicited by direct somatic stimulation of CA3-PCs from rodents of either sex, only a narrow window of distal dendritic [Ca²⁺] allowed LTP-IE because of Ca²⁺-dependent coactivation of PTK and protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP), which renders non-mossy fiber (MF) inputs incompetent in LTP-IE induction. High-frequency MF inputs, however, could induce LTP-IE at high dendritic [Ca²⁺] of the window. We show that MF input-induced Zn²⁺ signaling inhibits postsynaptic PTP, and thus enables MF inputs to induce LTP-IE at a wide range of [Ca²⁺]_i values. Extracellular chelation of Zn²⁺ or genetic deletion of vesicular zinc transporter abrogated the privilege of MF inputs for LTP-IE induction. Moreover, the incompetence of somatic stimulation was rescued by the inhibition of PTP or a supplement of extracellular zinc, indicating that MF input-induced increase in dendritic [Zn²⁺] facilitates the induction of LTP-IE by inhibiting PTP. Consistently, high-frequency MF stimulation induced immediate and delayed elevations of [Zn²⁺] at proximal and distal dendrites, respectively. These results indicate that MF inputs are uniquely linked to the regulation of direct cortical inputs owing to synaptic Zn²⁺ signaling.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Zn²⁺ has been mostly implicated in pathological processes, and the physiological roles of synaptically released Zn²⁺ in intracellular signaling are little known. We show here that Zn²⁺ released from hippocampal mossy fiber (MF) terminals enters postsynaptic CA3 pyramidal cells, and plays a facilitating role in MF input-induced heterosynaptic potentiation of perforant path (PP) synaptic inputs through long-term potentiation of intrinsic excitability (LTP-IE). We show that the window of cytosolic [Ca²⁺] that induces LTP-IE is normally very narrow because of the Ca²⁺-dependent coactivation of antagonistic signaling pairs, whereby non-MF inputs become ineffective in inducing excitability change. The MF-induced Zn²⁺ signaling, however, biases toward facilitating the induction of LTP-IE. The present study elucidates why MF inputs are more privileged for the regulation of PP synapses.

The Effect of Serotonin-Targeting Antidepressants on Neurogenesis and Neuronal Maturation of the Hippocampus Mediated via 5-HT1A and 5-HT4 Receptors

Antidepressant drugs such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) specifically increase serotonin (5-HT) levels in the synaptic cleft and are widely used to treat mood and anxiety disorders. There are 14 established subtypes of 5-HT receptors in rodents, each of which has regionally different expression patterns. Many preclinical studies have suggested that the hippocampus, which contains abundant 5-HT1A and 5-HT4 receptor subtypes in the dentate gyrus (DG), is critically involved in the mechanisms of action of antidepressants. This review article will analyze studies demonstrating regulation of hippocampal functions and hippocampus-dependent behaviors by SSRIs and similar serotonergic agents. Multiple studies indicate that 5-HT1A and 5-HT4 receptor signaling in the DG contributes to SSRI-mediated promotion of neurogenesis and increased neurotrophic factors expression. Chronic SSRI treatment causes functions and phenotypes of mature granule cells (GCs) to revert to immature-like phenotypes defined as a "dematured" state in the DG, and to increase monoamine reactivity at the dentate-to-CA3 synapses, via 5-HT4 receptor signaling. Behavioral studies demonstrate that the 5-HT1A receptors on mature GCs are critical for expression of antidepressant effects in the forced swim test and in novelty suppressed feeding; such studies also note that 5-HT4 receptors mediate neurogenesis-dependent antidepressant activity in, for example, novelty-suppressed feeding. Despite their limitations, the collective results of these studies describe a potential new mechanism of action, in which 5-HT1A and 5-HT4 receptor signaling, either independently or cooperatively, modulates the function of the hippocampal DG at multiple levels, any of which could play a critical role in the antidepressant actions of 5-HT-enhancing drugs.

The dynamics of adult neurogenesis in human hippocampus

The phenomenon of adult neurogenesis is now an accepted occurrence in mammals and also in humans. At least two discrete places house stem cells for generation of neurons in adult brain. These are olfactory system and the hippocampus. In animals, newly generated neurons have been directly or indirectly demonstrated to generate a significant amount of new neurons to have a functional role. However, the data in humans on the extent of this process is still scanty and such as difficult to comprehend its functional role in humans. This paper explores the available data on as extent of adult hippocampal neurogenesis in humans and makes comparison to animal data.

Neuromodulation of the Feedforward Dentate Gyrus-CA3 Microcircuit

The feedforward dentate gyrus-CA3 microcircuit in the hippocampus is thought to activate ensembles of CA3 pyramidal cells and interneurons to encode and retrieve episodic memories. The creation of these CA3 ensembles depends on neuromodulatory input and synaptic plasticity within this microcircuit. Here we review the mechanisms by which the neuromodulators aceylcholine, noradrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin reconfigure this microcircuit and thereby infer the net effect of these modulators on the processes of episodic memory encoding and retrieval.

Cell-specific synaptic plasticity induced by network oscillations

Gamma rhythms are known to contribute to the process of memory encoding. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms at the molecular, cellular and network levels. Using local field potential recording in awake behaving mice and concomitant field potential and whole-cell recordings in slice preparations we found that gamma rhythms lead to activity-dependent modification of hippocampal networks, including alterations in sharp wave-ripple complexes. Network plasticity, expressed as long-lasting increases in sharp wave-associated synaptic currents, exhibits enhanced excitatory synaptic strength in pyramidal cells that is induced postsynaptically and depends on metabotropic glutamate receptor-5 activation. In sharp contrast, alteration of inhibitory synaptic strength is independent of postsynaptic activation and less pronounced. Further, we found a cell type-specific, directionally biased synaptic plasticity of two major types of GABAergic cells, parvalbumin- and cholecystokinin-expressing interneurons. Thus, we propose that gamma frequency oscillations represent a network state that introduces long-lasting synaptic plasticity in a cell-specific manner.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14912.001

Changes in the strength of synapses – the connections between neurons – form the basis of learning and memory. This process, which is known as synaptic plasticity, incorporates transient experiences into persistent memory traces. However, a single synapse should not be viewed in isolation. Neurons typically belong to extensive networks made up of large numbers of cells, which show coordinated patterns of activity. The synchronized firing of the neurons in such a network is referred to as a network oscillation.

The frequency of an oscillation – that is, the number of times per second that its component cells are active at the same time – reflects distinct physiological functions. For example, high frequency oscillations called gamma waves help new memories to form, but it is not clear exactly how they do this. By studying gamma oscillations in a brain region called the hippocampus, Zarnadze, Bäuerle et al. provide insights into the underlying mechanisms.

Signals from “excitatory” neurons make the neuron on the other side of the synapse more likely to fire in response, and signals for “inhibitory” neurons make it less likely to fire. By recording the activity of excitatory neurons in mouse brain slices, Zarnadze, Bäuerle et al. show that gamma oscillations increase the strength of excitatory synapses in the hippocampus, allowing neurons to signal more easily across these connections. Blocking the activity of a protein called metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 prevents this increase in excitatory synaptic strength, suggesting that these receptors play an important role in memory processing. In contrast to excitatory neurons, gamma oscillations have different effects on two types of inhibitory neurons within the hippocampus. The oscillations increase the excitability of gamma-supporting inhibitory neurons, but at the same time reduce that of gamma-disturbing inhibitory neurons. These opposing changes in turn support synaptic plasticity.

By showing that gamma oscillations contribute to changes in synaptic strength within the hippocampus, Zarnadze, Bäuerle et al. help to explain the importance of these rhythms for memory processing. Further research is now needed to fully decipher the roles of different cell types, and the synaptic connections between them, in the formation of new memories.

DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.14912.002

Corruption of the dentate gyrus by "dominant" granule cells: Implications for dentate gyrus function in health and disease

The dentate gyrus (DG) and area CA3 of the hippocampus are highly organized lamellar structures which have been implicated in specific cognitive functions such as pattern separation and pattern completion. Here we describe how the anatomical organization and physiology of the DG and CA3 are consistent with structures that perform pattern separation and completion. We then raise a new idea related to the complex circuitry of the DG and CA3 where CA3 pyramidal cell 'backprojections' play a potentially important role in the sparse firing of granule cells (GCs), considered important in pattern separation. We also propose that GC axons, the mossy fibers, already known for their highly specialized structure, have a dynamic function that imparts variance--'mossy fiber variance'--which is important to pattern separation and completion. Computational modeling is used to show that when a subset of GCs become 'dominant,' one consequence is loss of variance in the activity of mossy fiber axons and a reduction in pattern separation and completion in the model. Empirical data are then provided using an example of 'dominant' GCs--subsets of GCs that develop abnormally and have increased excitability. Notably, these abnormal GCs have been identified in animal models of disease where DG-dependent behaviors are impaired. Together these data provide insight into pattern separation and completion, and suggest that behavioral impairment could arise from dominance of a subset of GCs in the DG-CA3 network.

The L-type voltage-dependent calcium channel long-term potentiation is higher in the dorsal compared with the ventral associational/commissural CA3 hippocampal synapses

The diversification between dorsal (DH) and ventral (VH) hippocampus includes the different ability to support NMDA receptor-dependent long-term synaptic potentiation (LTP). In this study, we assessed the ability of associational/commissural connections in the CA3 hippocampal field to show NMDA receptor-independent LTP. We found that high-frequency stimulation under blockade of NMDA receptors induced greater LTP in DH (40.7±8.5%) than in VH (17.1±4.6%). The blocker of L-type voltage-dependent calcium channels (VDCC) nifedipine prevented the induction of LTP. We hypothesize that the different ability for VDCC-LTP between DH and VH might have important implications in the memory-related information processing performed by the circuits of the two hippocampal segments.

Extracellular proteolysis in structural and functional plasticity of mossy fiber synapses in hippocampus

Brain is continuously altered in response to experience and environmental changes. One of the underlying mechanisms is synaptic plasticity, which is manifested by modification of synapse structure and function. It is becoming clear that regulated extracellular proteolysis plays a pivotal role in the structural and functional remodeling of synapses during brain development, learning and memory formation. Clearly, plasticity mechanisms may substantially differ between projections. Mossy fiber synapses onto CA3 pyramidal cells display several unique functional features, including pronounced short-term facilitation, a presynaptically expressed long-term potentiation (LTP) that is independent of NMDAR activation, and NMDA-dependent metaplasticity. Moreover, structural plasticity at mossy fiber synapses ranges from the reorganization of projection topology after hippocampus-dependent learning, through intrinsically different dynamic properties of synaptic boutons to pre- and postsynaptic structural changes accompanying LTP induction. Although concomitant functional and structural plasticity in this pathway strongly suggests a role of extracellular proteolysis, its impact only starts to be investigated in this projection. In the present report, we review the role of extracellular proteolysis in various aspects of synaptic plasticity in hippocampal mossy fiber synapses. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that among perisynaptic proteases, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)/plasmin system, β-site amyloid precursor protein-cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) and metalloproteinases play a crucial role in shaping plastic changes in this projection. We discuss recent advances and emerging hypotheses on the roles of proteases in mechanisms underlying mossy fiber target specific synaptic plasticity and memory formation.

Rapid Modulation of Axon Initial Segment Length Influences Repetitive Spike Firing

Neurons implement a variety of plasticity mechanisms to alter their function over timescales ranging from seconds to days. One powerful means of controlling excitability is to directly modulate the site of spike initiation, the axon initial segment (AIS). However, all plastic structural AIS changes reported thus far have been slow, involving days of neuronal activity perturbation. Here, we show that AIS plasticity can be induced much more rapidly. Just 3 hr of elevated activity significantly shortened the AIS of dentate granule cells in a calcineurin-dependent manner. The functional effects of rapid AIS shortening were offset by dephosphorylation of voltage-gated sodium channels, another calcineurin-dependent mechanism. However, pharmacological separation of these phenomena revealed a significant relationship between AIS length and repetitive firing. The AIS can therefore undergo a rapid form of structural change over timescales that enable interactions with other forms of activity-dependent plasticity in the dynamic control of neuronal excitability.

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Structural plasticity at the axon initial segment can occur within hours

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Ankyrin-G and sodium channel distributions shorten after 3 hr of elevated activity

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Rapid plasticity depends on calcineurin signaling opposed by CDK5

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All else being equal, AIS shortening correlates with lowered neuronal excitability

Refinement and Pattern Formation in Neural Circuits by the Interaction of Traveling Waves with Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity

Traveling waves in the developing brain are a prominent source of highly correlated spiking activity that may instruct the refinement of neural circuits. A candidate mechanism for mediating such refinement is spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP), which translates correlated activity patterns into changes in synaptic strength. To assess the potential of these phenomena to build useful structure in developing neural circuits, we examined the interaction of wave activity with STDP rules in simple, biologically plausible models of spiking neurons. We derive an expression for the synaptic strength dynamics showing that, by mapping the time dependence of STDP into spatial interactions, traveling waves can build periodic synaptic connectivity patterns into feedforward circuits with a broad class of experimentally observed STDP rules. The spatial scale of the connectivity patterns increases with wave speed and STDP time constants. We verify these results with simulations and demonstrate their robustness to likely sources of noise. We show how this pattern formation ability, which is analogous to solutions of reaction-diffusion systems that have been widely applied to biological pattern formation, can be harnessed to instruct the refinement of postsynaptic receptive fields. Our results hold for rich, complex wave patterns in two dimensions and over several orders of magnitude in wave speeds and STDP time constants, and they provide predictions that can be tested under existing experimental paradigms. Our model generalizes across brain areas and STDP rules, allowing broad application to the ubiquitous occurrence of traveling waves and to wave-like activity patterns induced by moving stimuli.

In several areas of the developing brain, waves of electrical activity trace out distinct patterns across the nervous tissue. These waves are intricately involved in developmental processes that set up the structural connections of the adult brain, but it is unclear what role the wave patterns play. Here, we examine how the strength of connections in these brain areas may change by a process called spike-timing dependent plasticity, which is sensitive to the precise times at which individual neurons become electrically active. We use mathematical models and simulations to show that interactions between waves and plasticity build highly structured patterns into the connections. The results of our model are analogous to many cases of biological pattern formation seen, for example, in zebra stripes, leopard spots and seashells. An important connectivity pattern we consider is the receptive field, which determines to a large extent the specific function of a neuron. We demonstrate how pattern formation can refine the shape of a receptive field and therefore the specificity of a neuron, and explore several ways in which pattern formation may be disrupted, providing clues regarding pathologies in receptive field development. Our theory makes several predictions that may be tested using existing experimental paradigms.

Hippocampal Synaptic Expansion Induced by Spatial Experience in Rats Correlates with Improved Information Processing in the Hippocampus

Spatial water maze (WM) overtraining induces hippocampal mossy fiber (MF) expansion, and it has been suggested that spatial pattern separation depends on the MF pathway. We hypothesized that WM experience inducing MF expansion in rats would improve spatial pattern separation in the hippocampal network. We first tested this by using the the delayed non-matching to place task (DNMP), in animals that had been previously trained on the water maze (WM) and found that these animals, as well as animals treated as swim controls (SC), performed better than home cage control animals the DNMP task. The "catFISH" imaging method provided neurophysiological evidence that hippocampal pattern separation improved in animals treated as SC, and this improvement was even clearer in animals that experienced the WM training. Moreover, these behavioral treatments also enhance network reliability and improve partial pattern separation in CA1 and pattern completion in CA3. By measuring the area occupied by synaptophysin staining in both the stratum oriens and the stratun lucidum of the distal CA3, we found evidence of structural synaptic plasticity that likely includes MF expansion. Finally, the measures of hippocampal network coding obtained with catFISH correlate significantly with the increased density of synaptophysin staining, strongly suggesting that structural synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus induced by the WM and SC experience is related to the improvement of spatial information processing in the hippocampus.

mGlu5 acts as a switch for opposing forms of synaptic plasticity at mossy fiber-CA3 and commissural associational-CA3 synapses

Within the hippocampus, different kinds of spatial experience determine the direction of change of synaptic weights. Synaptic plasticity resulting from such experience may enable memory encoding. The CA3 region is very striking in this regard: due to the distinct molecular properties of the mossy fiber (MF) and associational-commissural (AC) synapses, it is believed that they enable working memory and pattern completion. The question arises, however, as to how information reaching these synapses results in differentiated encoding. Given its crucial role in enabling persistent synaptic plasticity in other hippocampal subfields, we speculated that the metabotropic glutamate receptor mGlu5 may regulate information encoding at MF and AC synapses. Here, we show that antagonism of mGlu5 inhibits LTP, but not LTD at MF synapses of freely behaving adult rats. Conversely, mGlu5 antagonism prevents LTD but not LTP at AC-CA3 synapses. This suggests that, under conditions in which mGlu5 is activated, LTP may be preferentially induced at MF synapses, whereas LTD is favored at AC synapses. To assess this possibility, we applied 50 Hz stimulation that should generate postsynaptic activity that corresponds to θm, the activation threshold that lies between LTP and LTD. MGlu5 activation had no effect on AC responses but potentiated MF synapses. These data suggest that mGlu5 serves as a switch that alters signal-to-noise ratios during information encoding in the CA3 region. This mechanism supports highly tuned and differentiated information storage in CA3 synapses.

Dentate gyrus-CA3 glutamate release/NMDA transmission mediates behavioral despair and antidepressant-like responses to leptin

Compelling evidence supports the important role of the glutamatergic system in the pathophysiology of major depression and also as a target for rapid-acting antidepressants. However, the functional role of glutamate release/transmission in behavioral processes related to depression and antidepressant efficacy remains to be elucidated. In this study, glutamate release and behavioral responses to tail suspension, a procedure commonly used for inducing behavioral despair, were simultaneously monitored in real time. The onset of tail suspension stress evoked a rapid increase in glutamate release in hippocampal field CA3, which declined gradually after its offset. Blockade of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors by intra-CA3 infusion of MK-801, a non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist, reversed behavioral despair. A subpopulation of granule neurons that innervated the CA3 region expressed leptin receptors and these cells were not activated by stress. Leptin treatment dampened tail suspension-evoked glutamate release in CA3. On the other hand, intra-CA3 infusion of NMDA blocked the antidepressant-like effect of leptin in reversing behavioral despair in both the tail suspension and forced swim tests, which involved activation of Akt signaling in DG. Taken together, these results suggest that the DG-CA3 glutamatergic pathway is critical for mediating behavioral despair and antidepressant-like responses to leptin.

Synaptic and nonsynaptic plasticity approximating probabilistic inference

Learning and memory operations in neural circuits are believed to involve molecular cascades of synaptic and nonsynaptic changes that lead to a diverse repertoire of dynamical phenomena at higher levels of processing. Hebbian and homeostatic plasticity, neuromodulation, and intrinsic excitability all conspire to form and maintain memories. But it is still unclear how these seemingly redundant mechanisms could jointly orchestrate learning in a more unified system. To this end, a Hebbian learning rule for spiking neurons inspired by Bayesian statistics is proposed. In this model, synaptic weights and intrinsic currents are adapted on-line upon arrival of single spikes, which initiate a cascade of temporally interacting memory traces that locally estimate probabilities associated with relative neuronal activation levels. Trace dynamics enable synaptic learning to readily demonstrate a spike-timing dependence, stably return to a set-point over long time scales, and remain competitive despite this stability. Beyond unsupervised learning, linking the traces with an external plasticity-modulating signal enables spike-based reinforcement learning. At the postsynaptic neuron, the traces are represented by an activity-dependent ion channel that is shown to regulate the input received by a postsynaptic cell and generate intrinsic graded persistent firing levels. We show how spike-based Hebbian-Bayesian learning can be performed in a simulated inference task using integrate-and-fire (IAF) neurons that are Poisson-firing and background-driven, similar to the preferred regime of cortical neurons. Our results support the view that neurons can represent information in the form of probability distributions, and that probabilistic inference could be a functional by-product of coupled synaptic and nonsynaptic mechanisms operating over several timescales. The model provides a biophysical realization of Bayesian computation by reconciling several observed neural phenomena whose functional effects are only partially understood in concert.

Mossy fiber-evoked subthreshold responses induce timing-dependent plasticity at hippocampal CA3 recurrent synapses

Dentate granule cells exhibit exceptionally low levels of activity and rarely elicit action potentials in targeted CA3 pyramidal cells. It is thus unclear how such weak input from the granule cells sustains adequate levels of synaptic plasticity in the targeted CA3 network. We report that subthreshold potentials evoked by mossy fibers are sufficient to induce synaptic plasticity between CA3 pyramidal cells, thereby complementing the sparse action potential discharge. Repetitive pairing of a CA3-CA3 recurrent synaptic response with a subsequent subthreshold mossy fiber response induced long-term potentiation at CA3 recurrent synapses in rat hippocampus in vitro. Reversing the timing of the inputs induced long-term depression. The underlying mechanism depends on a passively conducted giant excitatory postsynaptic potential evoked by a mossy fiber that enhances NMDA receptor-mediated current at active CA3 recurrent synapses by relieving magnesium block. The resulting NMDA spike generates a supralinear depolarization that contributes to synaptic plasticity in hippocampal neuronal ensembles implicated in memory.

Theta-gamma-modulated synaptic currents in hippocampal granule cells in vivo define a mechanism for network oscillations

Theta-gamma network oscillations are thought to represent key reference signals for information processing in neuronal ensembles, but the underlying synaptic mechanisms remain unclear. To address this question, we performed whole-cell (WC) patch-clamp recordings from mature hippocampal granule cells (GCs) in vivo in the dentate gyrus of anesthetized and awake rats. GCs in vivo fired action potentials at low frequency, consistent with sparse coding in the dentate gyrus. GCs were exposed to barrages of fast AMPAR-mediated excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs), primarily relayed from the entorhinal cortex, and inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs), presumably generated by local interneurons. EPSCs exhibited coherence with the field potential predominantly in the theta frequency band, whereas IPSCs showed coherence primarily in the gamma range. Action potentials in GCs were phase locked to network oscillations. Thus, theta-gamma-modulated synaptic currents may provide a framework for sparse temporal coding of information in the dentate gyrus.

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Granule cells in vivo fire action potentials sparsely but often in bursts

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Granule cells are exposed to barrages of fast excitatory postsynaptic currents

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Granule cells receive theta-coherent excitation but gamma-coherent inhibition

Adult neurogenesis in the mammalian hippocampus: why the dentate gyrus?

In the adult mammalian brain, newly generated neurons are continuously incorporated into two networks: interneurons born in the subventricular zone migrate to the olfactory bulb, whereas the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus integrates locally born principal neurons. That the rest of the mammalian brain loses significant neurogenic capacity after the perinatal period suggests that unique aspects of the structure and function of DG and olfactory bulb circuits allow them to benefit from the adult generation of neurons. In this review, we consider the distinctive features of the DG that may account for it being able to profit from this singular form of neural plasticity. Approaches to the problem of neurogenesis are grouped as "bottom-up," where the phenotype of adult-born granule cells is contrasted to that of mature developmentally born granule cells, and "top-down," where the impact of altering the amount of neurogenesis on behavior is examined. We end by considering the primary implications of these two approaches and future directions.

Cholinergic plasticity of oscillating neuronal assemblies in mouse hippocampal slices

The mammalian hippocampus expresses several types of network oscillations which entrain neurons into transiently stable assemblies. These groups of co-active neurons are believed to support the formation, consolidation and recall of context-dependent memories. Formation of new assemblies occurs during theta- and gamma-oscillations under conditions of high cholinergic activity. Memory consolidation is linked to sharp wave-ripple oscillations (SPW-R) during decreased cholinergic tone. We hypothesized that increased cholinergic tone supports plastic changes of assemblies while low cholinergic tone favors their stability. Coherent spatiotemporal network patterns were measured during SPW-R activity in mouse hippocampal slices. We compared neuronal activity within the oscillating assemblies before and after a transient phase of carbachol-induced gamma oscillations. Single units maintained their coupling to SPW-R throughout the experiment and could be re-identified after the transient phase of gamma oscillations. However, the frequency of SPW-R-related unit firing was enhanced after muscarinic stimulation. At the network level, these changes resulted in altered patterns of extracellularly recorded SPW-R waveforms. In contrast, recording of ongoing SPW-R activity without intermittent cholinergic stimulation revealed remarkably stable repetitive activation of assemblies. These results show that activation of cholinergic receptors induces plasticity at the level of oscillating hippocampal assemblies, in line with the different role of gamma- and SPW-R network activity for memory formation and –consolidation, respectively.

Propagating synchrony in feed-forward networks

Coordinated patterns of precisely timed action potentials (spikes) emerge in a variety of neural circuits but their dynamical origin is still not well understood. One hypothesis states that synchronous activity propagating through feed-forward chains of groups of neurons (synfire chains) may dynamically generate such spike patterns. Additionally, synfire chains offer the possibility to enable reliable signal transmission. So far, mostly densely connected chains, often with all-to-all connectivity between groups, have been theoretically and computationally studied. Yet, such prominent feed-forward structures have not been observed experimentally. Here we analytically and numerically investigate under which conditions diluted feed-forward chains may exhibit synchrony propagation. In addition to conventional linear input summation, we study the impact of non-linear, non-additive summation accounting for the effect of fast dendritic spikes. The non-linearities promote synchronous inputs to generate precisely timed spikes. We identify how non-additive coupling relaxes the conditions on connectivity such that it enables synchrony propagation at connectivities substantially lower than required for linearly coupled chains. Although the analytical treatment is based on a simple leaky integrate-and-fire neuron model, we show how to generalize our methods to biologically more detailed neuron models and verify our results by numerical simulations with, e.g., Hodgkin Huxley type neurons.

Bidirectional NMDA receptor plasticity controls CA3 output and heterosynaptic metaplasticity

NMDA receptors (NMDARs) are classically known as coincidence detectors for the induction of long-term synaptic plasticity and have been implicated in hippocampal CA3 cell-dependent spatial memory functions that likely rely on dynamic cellular ensemble encoding of space. The unique functional properties of both NMDARs and mossy fiber projections to CA3 pyramidal cells place mossy fiber NMDARs in a prime position to influence CA3 ensemble dynamics. By mimicking presynaptic and postsynaptic activity patterns observed in vivo, we found a burst timing-dependent pattern of activity that triggered bidirectional long-term NMDAR plasticity at mossy fiber-CA3 synapses in rat hippocampal slices. This form of plasticity imparts bimodal control of mossy fiber-driven CA3 burst firing and spike temporal fidelity. Moreover, we found that mossy fiber NMDARs mediate heterosynaptic metaplasticity between mossy fiber and associational-commissural synapses. Thus, bidirectional NMDAR plasticity at mossy fiber-CA3 synapses could substantially contribute to the formation, storage and recall of CA3 cell assembly patterns.

Learning and prospective recall of noisy spike pattern episodes

Spike patterns in vivo are often incomplete or corrupted with noise that makes inputs to neuronal networks appear to vary although they may, in fact, be samples of a single underlying pattern or repeated presentation. Here we present a recurrent spiking neural network (SNN) model that learns noisy pattern sequences through the use of homeostasis and spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP). We find that the changes in the synaptic weight vector during learning of patterns of random ensembles are approximately orthogonal in a reduced dimension space when the patterns are constructed to minimize overlap in representations. Using this model, representations of sparse patterns maybe associated through co-activated firing and integrated into ensemble representations. While the model is tolerant to noise, prospective activity, and pattern completion differ in their ability to adapt in the presence of noise. One version of the model is able to demonstrate the recently discovered phenomena of preplay and replay reminiscent of hippocampal-like behaviors.

Distinct dendritic arborization and in vivo firing patterns of parvalbumin-expressing basket cells in the hippocampal area CA3

Hippocampal CA3 area generates temporally structured network activity such as sharp waves and gamma and theta oscillations. Parvalbumin-expressing basket cells, making GABAergic synapses onto cell bodies and proximal dendrites of pyramidal cells, control pyramidal cell activity and participate in network oscillations in slice preparations, but their roles in vivo remain to be tested. We have recorded the spike timing of parvalbumin-expressing basket cells in areas CA2/3 of anesthetized rats in relation to CA3 putative pyramidal cell firing and activity locally and in area CA1. During theta oscillations, CA2/3 basket cells fired on the same phase as putative pyramidal cells, but, surprisingly, significantly later than downstream CA1 basket cells. This indicates a distinct modulation of CA3 and CA1 pyramidal cells by basket cells, which receive different inputs. We observed unexpectedly large dendritic arborization of CA2/3 basket cells in stratum lacunosum moleculare (33% of length, 29% surface, and 24% synaptic input from a total of ∼35,000), different from the dendritic arborizations of CA1 basket cells. Area CA2/3 basket cells fired phase locked to both CA2/3 and CA1 gamma oscillations, and increased firing during CA1 sharp waves, thus supporting the role of CA3 networks in the generation of gamma oscillations and sharp waves. However, during ripples associated with sharp waves, firing of CA2/3 basket cells was phase locked only to local but not CA1 ripples, suggesting the independent generation of fast oscillations by basket cells in CA1 and CA2/3. The distinct spike timing of basket cells during oscillations in CA1 and CA2/3 suggests differences in synaptic inputs paralleled by differences in dendritic arborizations.

Bayesian computation emerges in generic cortical microcircuits through spike-timing-dependent plasticity

The principles by which networks of neurons compute, and how spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) of synaptic weights generates and maintains their computational function, are unknown. Preceding work has shown that soft winner-take-all (WTA) circuits, where pyramidal neurons inhibit each other via interneurons, are a common motif of cortical microcircuits. We show through theoretical analysis and computer simulations that Bayesian computation is induced in these network motifs through STDP in combination with activity-dependent changes in the excitability of neurons. The fundamental components of this emergent Bayesian computation are priors that result from adaptation of neuronal excitability and implicit generative models for hidden causes that are created in the synaptic weights through STDP. In fact, a surprising result is that STDP is able to approximate a powerful principle for fitting such implicit generative models to high-dimensional spike inputs: Expectation Maximization. Our results suggest that the experimentally observed spontaneous activity and trial-to-trial variability of cortical neurons are essential features of their information processing capability, since their functional role is to represent probability distributions rather than static neural codes. Furthermore it suggests networks of Bayesian computation modules as a new model for distributed information processing in the cortex.

Chronic fluoxetine selectively upregulates dopamine D₁-like receptors in the hippocampus

The dentate gyrus of the hippocampus has been implicated in mechanisms of action of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). We have recently demonstrated that the SSRI fluoxetine can reverse the state of maturation of the adult dentate granule cells and enhances serotonin 5-HT₄ receptor-mediated synaptic potentiation at the synapses formed by their mossy fiber axons. Here, we show that fluoxetine can induce long-lasting enhancement of dopaminergic modulation at the mossy fiber synapse. Synaptic responses arising from the mossy fiber-CA3 pyramidal cell synapse were recorded using acute mouse hippocampal slices. Dopamine potentiates mossy fiber synaptic transmission by activating D₁-like receptors. Chronic fluoxetine treatment induced a prominent increase in the magnitude of dopamine-induced synaptic potentiation, and this effect was maintained at least up to 1 month after withdrawal of fluoxetine. Quantitative autoradiography revealed that binding of the D₁-like receptor ligand [³H]SCH23390 was selectively increased in the dentate gyrus and along the mossy fiber in fluoxetine-treated mice. However, binding of the 5-HT₄ receptor ligand [³H]GR113808 was not significantly changed. These results suggest that chronic fluoxetine enhanced the dopaminergic modulation at least in part by upregulating expression of D₁-like receptors, while the enhanced serotonergic modulation may be mediated by modifications of downstream signaling pathways. These enhanced monoaminergic modulations would greatly increase excitatory drive to the hippocampal circuit through the dentate gyrus. The highly localized upregulation of D₁-like receptors further supports the importance of the dentate gyrus in the mechanism of action of SSRIs.

Identifying self- and nonself-generated signals: lessons from electrosensory systems

This chapter provides a short review of the mechanisms used by electroreceptive fish to discriminate self- from nonself-generated signals. Electroreception is used by animals to detect objects of electric impedance different from the water, to detect natural electrogenic sources and to communicate signals between conspecifics. Electroreceptive animals may generate electric fields either with the purpose of electrically illuminating the neighborhood or as an epiphenomenon of other functions. In addition, the presence of the fish body as a conductive object in a scene funnels the current flow and, consequently, animal movements also generate signals by changing the body shape or the spatial relationship of the body with the surrounding objects. Therefore, mechanisms for discrimination between self and externally generated signals are very important for constructing a coherent representation of the environment. Some mechanisms facilitate and stream the flow of signals carried by the self-generated electric field. Others are designed to reject unwanted interference coming from self-generated movements or even the self-generated electric field. Finally, more complex operations involving sensory motor integration are used for discriminating between self- and conspecific- generated communication signals. Despite the evolutionary distance between animals endowed with electric sense, mechanisms for self-identification reappear with few differences between species. This suggests that many of the possible strategies are present in vertebrates may be found in these fish. Therefore, we have much to learn about self recognition from the study of electroreception.

Active dendrites support efficient initiation of dendritic spikes in hippocampal CA3 pyramidal neurons

CA3 pyramidal neurons are important for memory formation and pattern completion in the hippocampal network. It is generally thought that proximal synapses from the mossy fibers activate these neurons most efficiently, whereas distal inputs from the perforant path have a weaker modulatory influence. We used confocally targeted patch-clamp recording from dendrites and axons to map the activation of rat CA3 pyramidal neurons at the subcellular level. Our results reveal two distinct dendritic domains. In the proximal domain, action potentials initiated in the axon backpropagate actively with large amplitude and fast time course. In the distal domain, Na(+) channel-mediated dendritic spikes are efficiently initiated by waveforms mimicking synaptic events. CA3 pyramidal neuron dendrites showed a high Na(+)-to-K(+) conductance density ratio, providing ideal conditions for active backpropagation and dendritic spike initiation. Dendritic spikes may enhance the computational power of CA3 pyramidal neurons in the hippocampal network.

Activity dynamics and behavioral correlates of CA3 and CA1 hippocampal pyramidal neurons

The CA3 and CA1 pyramidal neurons are the major principal cell types of the hippocampus proper. The strongly recurrent collateral system of CA3 cells and the largely parallel-organized CA1 neurons suggest that these regions perform distinct computations. However, a comprehensive comparison between CA1 and CA3 pyramidal cells in terms of firing properties, network dynamics, and behavioral correlations is sparse in the intact animal. We performed large-scale recordings in the dorsal hippocampus of rats to quantify the similarities and differences between CA1 (n > 3,600) and CA3 (n > 2,200) pyramidal cells during sleep and exploration in multiple environments. CA1 and CA3 neurons differed significantly in firing rates, spike burst propensity, spike entrainment by the theta rhythm, and other aspects of spiking dynamics in a brain state-dependent manner. A smaller proportion of CA3 than CA1 cells displayed prominent place fields, but place fields of CA3 neurons were more compact, more stable, and carried more spatial information per spike than those of CA1 pyramidal cells. Several other features of the two cell types were specific to the testing environment. CA3 neurons showed less pronounced phase precession and a weaker position versus spike-phase relationship than CA1 cells. Our findings suggest that these distinct activity dynamics of CA1 and CA3 pyramidal cells support their distinct computational roles.

A novel form of low-frequency hippocampal mossy fiber plasticity induced by bimodal mGlu1 receptor signaling

Mossy fiber synapses act as the critical mediators of highly dynamic communication between hippocampal granule cells in the dentate gyrus and CA3 pyramidal neurons. Excitatory synaptic strength at mossy fiber to CA3 pyramidal cell synapses is potentiated rapidly and reversibly by brief trains of low-frequency stimulation of mossy fiber axons. We show that slight modifications to the pattern of stimulation convert this short-term potentiation into prolonged synaptic strengthening lasting tens of minutes in rodent hippocampal slices. This low-frequency potentiation of mossy fiber EPSCs requires postsynaptic mGlu1 receptors for induction but is expressed presynaptically as an increased release probability and therefore impacts both AMPA and NMDA components of the mossy fiber EPSC. A nonconventional signaling pathway initiated by mGlu1 receptors contributes to induction of plasticity, because EPSC potentiation was prevented by a tyrosine kinase inhibitor and only partially reduced by guanosine 5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate). A slowly reversible state of enhanced synaptic efficacy could serve as a mechanism for altering the integrative properties of this synapse within a relatively broad temporal window.

Selective presynaptic terminal remodeling induced by spatial, but not cued, learning: a quantitative confocal study

The hippocampal mossy fibers (MFs) are capable of behaviorally selective, use-dependent structural remodeling. Indeed, we previously observed a new layer of Timm's staining induced in the stratum oriens (SO) in CA3 after spatial but not cued water maze learning (Rekart et al., (2007) Learn Mem 14:416-421). This led to the prediction that there is a learning-specific induction of presynaptic terminal plasticity of MF axons. This study confirms this prediction demonstrating, at the confocal level of analysis, terminal-specific, and behavior-selective presynaptic structural plasticity linked to long-term memory. Male adult Wistar rats were trained for 5 days to locate a hidden or visible platform in a water maze and a retention test was performed 7 days later. MF terminal subtypes, specifically identified by an antibody to zinc transporter 3 (ZnT3), were counted from confocal z-stacks in the stratum lucidum (SL) and the SO. In hidden platform trained rats, there was a significant increase in the number of large MF terminals (LMTs, 2.5-10 μm diameter, >2 μm(2) area) compared to controls both in the proximal SL (P < 0.05) and in the SO (P < 0.01). Surprisingly, there was no detectable increase in small MF terminals (SMTs, 0.5-2 μm diameter, <2 μm(2) area) in either SL or SO as a consequence of training. This distinction of the two MF terminal types is functionally important as LMTs synapse on CA3 pyramidal neurons, while SMTs are known to target inhibitory interneurons. The present findings highlight the pivotal role in memory of presynaptic structural plasticity. Because the "sprouting" observed is specific to the LMT, with no detectable change in the number of the SMT, learning may enhance net excitatory input to CA3 pyramidal neurons. Given the sparse coding of the MF-CA3 connection, and the role that granule cells play in pattern separation, the remodeling observed here may be expected to have a major impact on the long-term integration of spatial context into memory.

Altered axonal targeting and short-term plasticity in the hippocampus of Disc1 mutant mice

Carefully designed animal models of genetic risk factors are likely to aid our understanding of the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Here, we study a mouse strain with a truncating lesion in the endogenous Disc1 ortholog designed to model the effects of a schizophrenia-predisposing mutation and offer a detailed account of the consequences that this mutation has on the development and function of a hippocampal circuit. We uncover widespread and cumulative cytoarchitectural alterations in the dentate gyrus during neonatal and adult neurogenesis, which include errors in axonal targeting and are accompanied by changes in short-term plasticity at the mossy fiber/CA3 circuit. We also provide evidence that cAMP levels are elevated as a result of the Disc1 mutation, leading to altered axonal targeting and dendritic growth. The identified structural alterations are, for the most part, not consistent with the growth-promoting and premature maturation effects inferred from previous RNAi-based Disc1 knockdown. Our results provide support to the notion that modest disturbances of neuronal connectivity and accompanying deficits in short-term synaptic dynamics is a general feature of schizophrenia-predisposing mutations.

Pattern separation in the dentate gyrus: a role for the CA3 backprojection

Many theories of hippocampal function assume that area CA3 of hippocampus is capable of performing rapid pattern storage, as well as pattern completion when a partial version of a familiar pattern is presented, and that the dentate gyrus (DG) is a preprocessor that performs pattern separation, facilitating storage and recall in CA3. The latter assumption derives partly from the anatomical and physiological properties of DG. However, the major output of DG is from a large number of DG granule cells to a smaller number of CA3 pyramidal cells, which potentially negates the pattern separation performed in the DG. Here, we consider a simple CA3 network model, and consider how it might interact with a previously developed computational model of the DG. The resulting "standard" DG-CA3 model performs pattern storage and completion well, given a small set of sparse, randomly derived patterns representing entorhinal input to the DG and CA3. However, under many circumstances, the pattern separation achieved in the DG is not as robust in CA3, resulting in a low storage capacity for CA3, compared to previous mathematical estimates of the storage capacity for an autoassociative network of this size. We also examine an often-overlooked aspect of hippocampal anatomy that might increase functionality in the combined DG-CA3 model. Specifically, axon collaterals of CA3 pyramidal cells project "back" to the DG ("backprojections"), exerting inhibitory effects on granule cells that could potentially ensure that different subpopulations of granule cells are recruited to respond to similar patterns. In the model, addition of such backprojections improves both pattern separation and storage capacity. We also show that the DG-CA3 model with backprojections provides a better fit to empirical data than a model without backprojections. Therefore, we hypothesize that CA3 backprojections might play an important role in hippocampal function.

A synaptic strategy for consolidation of convergent visuotopic maps

The mechanisms by which experience guides refinement of converging afferent pathways are poorly understood. We describe a vision-driven refinement of corticocollicular inputs that determines the consolidation of retinal and visual cortical (VC) synapses on individual neurons in the superficial superior colliculus (sSC). Highly refined corticocollicular terminals form 1-2 days after eye-opening (EO), accompanied by VC-dependent filopodia sprouting on proximal dendrites, and PSD-95 and VC-dependent quadrupling of functional synapses. Delayed EO eliminates synapses, corticocollicular terminals, and spines on VC-recipient dendrites. Awake recordings after EO show that VC and retina cooperate to activate sSC neurons, and VC light responses precede sSC responses within intervals promoting potentiation. Eyelid closure is associated with more protracted cortical visual responses, causing the majority of VC spikes to follow those of the colliculus. These data implicate spike-timing plasticity as a mechanism for cortical input survival, and support a cooperative strategy for retinal and cortical coinnervation of the sSC.

Oxygen/glucose deprivation induces a reduction in synaptic AMPA receptors on hippocampal CA3 neurons mediated by mGluR1 and adenosine A3 receptors

Hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons are highly sensitive to ischemic damage, whereas neighboring CA3 pyramidal neurons are less susceptible. It is proposed that switching of AMPA receptor (AMPAR) subunits on CA1 neurons during an in vitro model of ischemia, oxygen/glucose deprivation (OGD), leads to an enhanced permeability of AMPARs to Ca(2+), resulting in delayed cell death. However, it is unclear whether the same mechanisms exist in CA3 neurons and whether this underlies the differential sensitivity to ischemia. Here, we investigated the consequences of OGD for AMPAR function in CA3 neurons using electrophysiological recordings in rat hippocampal slices. Following a 15 min OGD protocol, a substantial depression of AMPAR-mediated synaptic transmission was observed at CA3 associational/commissural and mossy fiber synapses but not CA1 Schaffer collateral synapses. The depression of synaptic transmission following OGD was prevented by metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGluR1) or A(3) receptor antagonists, indicating a role for both glutamate and adenosine release. Inhibition of PLC, PKC, or chelation of intracellular Ca(2+) also prevented the depression of synaptic transmission. Inclusion of peptides to interrupt the interaction between GluA2 and PICK1 or dynamin and amphiphysin prevented the depression of transmission, suggesting a dynamin and PICK1-dependent internalization of AMPARs after OGD. We also show that a reduction in surface and total AMPAR protein levels after OGD was prevented by mGluR1 or A(3) receptor antagonists, indicating that AMPARs are degraded following internalization. Thus, we describe a novel mechanism for the removal of AMPARs in CA3 pyramidal neurons following OGD that has the potential to reduce excitotoxicity and promote neuroprotection.