Neuronal Calcium Imaging, Excitability, and Plasticity Changes in the Aldh2-/- Mouse Model of Sporadic Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Dysregulated signaling in neurons and astrocytes participates in pathophysiological alterations seen in the Alzheimer's disease brain, including increases in amyloid-β, hyperphosphorylated tau, inflammation, calcium dysregulation, and oxidative stress. These are often noted prior to the development of behavioral, cognitive, and non-cognitive deficits. However, the extent to which these pathological changes function together or independently is unclear.

Spreading depolarization and neuronal damage or survival in mouse neocortical brain slices immediately and 12 hours following middle cerebral artery occlusion.

Whereas many studies have examined the properties of the compromised neocortex in the first several days following ischemia, there is less information regarding the initial 12 h poststroke. In this study we examined live mouse neocortical slices harvested immediately and 12 h after a 30-min middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo). We compared nonischemic and ischemic hemispheres with regard to the propensity for tissue swelling and for generating spreading depolarization (SD), as well as evoked synaptic responses and single pyramidal neuron electrophysiological properties.

Age-Dependent Switch of the Role of Serotonergic 5-HT1A Receptors in Gating Long-Term Potentiation in Rat Visual Cortex In Vivo.

The rodent primary visual cortex (V1) is densely innervated by serotonergic axons and previous in vitro work has shown that serotonin (5-HT) can modulate plasticity (e.g., long-term potentiation (LTP)) at V1 synapses.

NR2B-subunit dependent facilitation of long-term potentiation in primary visual cortex following visual discrimination training of adult rats.

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is an important mechanism thought to mediate changes in synaptic connectivity following various types of experience. We examined the effects of visual discrimination training on LTP in the mature, rodent thalamocortical visual system. Adult rats underwent visual discrimination training in a modified Morris Water Maze containing a Y-maze insert, requiring rats to associate visual cues with the location of a hidden escape platform placed in one of the two goal arms of the Y-maze insert.

Selective potentiation of crossed vs. uncrossed inputs from lateral geniculate nucleus to visual cortex by the basal forebrain: potential facilitation of rodent binocularity.

Cholinergic projections originating in the basal forebrain (BF) play important roles in the heterosynaptic facilitation of synaptic strength in various sensory cortices, including the primary visual cortex (V1). Here, using urethane-anesthetized rats, we find that pairing burst stimulation of the BF with single pulse stimulation of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) does not consistently increase field postsynaptic potentials (fPSPs) in V1 elicited by ipsilateral LGN stimulation. However, longer latency fPSPs recorded in V1 in response to stimulation of the contralateral LGN, reflecting crossed, polysynaptic inputs, show significant potentiation when paired with preceding BF stimulation.