A limited role of NKCC1 in telencephalic glutamatergic neurons for developing hippocampal network dynamics and behavior.

NKCC1 is the primary transporter mediating chloride uptake in immature principal neurons, but its role in the development of in vivo network dynamics and cognitive abilities remains unknown. Here, we address the function of NKCC1 in developing mice using electrophysiological, optical, and behavioral approaches. We report that NKCC1 deletion from telencephalic glutamatergic neurons decreases in vitro excitatory actions of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and impairs neuronal synchrony in neonatal hippocampal brain slices.

Dentate Gyrus Sharp Waves, a Local Field Potential Correlate of Learning in the Dentate Gyrus of Mice.

The hippocampus plays an essential role in learning. Each of the three major hippocampal subfields, dentate gyrus (DG), CA3, and CA1, has a unique function in memory formation and consolidation, and also exhibit distinct local field potential (LFP) signatures during memory consolidation processes in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. The classic LFP events of the CA1 region, sharp-wave ripples (SWRs), are induced by CA3 activity and considered to be an electrophysiological biomarker for episodic memory.

Early-life exposure to caffeine affects the construction and activity of cortical networks in mice.

The consumption of psychoactive drugs during pregnancy can have deleterious effects on newborns. It remains unclear whether early-life exposure to caffeine, the most widely consumed psychoactive substance, alters brain development. We hypothesized that maternal caffeine ingestion during pregnancy and the early postnatal period in mice affects the construction and activity of cortical networks in offspring.

Treatment during a vulnerable developmental period rescues a genetic epilepsy.

The nervous system is vulnerable to perturbations during specific developmental periods. Insults during such susceptible time windows can have long-term consequences, including the development of neurological diseases such as epilepsy. Here we report that a pharmacological intervention timed during a vulnerable neonatal period of cortical development prevents pathology in a genetic epilepsy model.

Population rate dynamics and multineuron firing patterns in sensory cortex.

Cortical circuits encode sensory stimuli through the firing of neuronal ensembles, and also produce spontaneous population patterns in the absence of sensory drive. This population activity is often characterized experimentally by the distribution of multineuron "words" (binary firing vectors), and a match between spontaneous and evoked word distributions has been suggested to reflect learning of a probabilistic model of the sensory world. We analyzed multineuron word distributions in sensory cortex of anesthetized rats and cats, and found that they are dominated by fluctuations in population firing rate rather than precise interactions between individual units.

State-dependent representation of amplitude-modulated noise stimuli in rat auditory cortex.

Cortical responses can vary greatly between repeated presentations of an identical stimulus. Here we report that both trial-to-trial variability and faithfulness of auditory cortical stimulus representations depend critically on brain state. A frozen amplitude-modulated white noise stimulus was repeatedly presented while recording neuronal populations and local field potentials (LFPs) in auditory cortex of urethane-anesthetized rats.

How do neurons work together? Lessons from auditory cortex.

Recordings of single neurons have yielded great insights into the way acoustic stimuli are represented in auditory cortex. However, any one neuron functions as part of a population whose combined activity underlies cortical information processing. Here we review some results obtained by recording simultaneously from auditory cortical populations and individual morphologically identified neurons, in urethane-anesthetized and unanesthetized passively listening rats.

Population coding of tone stimuli in auditory cortex: dynamic rate vector analysis.

Neural representations of even temporally unstructured stimuli can show complex temporal dynamics. In many systems, neuronal population codes show 'progressive differentiation', whereby population responses to different stimuli grow further apart during a stimulus presentation. Here we analysed the response of auditory cortical populations in rats to extended tones.

A simple model of cortical dynamics explains variability and state dependence of sensory responses in urethane-anesthetized auditory cortex.

The responses of neocortical cells to sensory stimuli are variable and state dependent. It has been hypothesized that intrinsic cortical dynamics play an important role in trial-to-trial variability; the precise nature of this dependence, however, is poorly understood. We show here that in auditory cortex of urethane-anesthetized rats, population responses to click stimuli can be quantitatively predicted on a trial-by-trial basis by a simple dynamical system model estimated from spontaneous activity immediately preceding stimulus presentation.

Sequential structure of neocortical spontaneous activity in vivo.

Even in the absence of sensory stimulation, the neocortex shows complex spontaneous activity patterns, often consisting of alternating "DOWN" states of generalized neural silence and "UP" states of massive, persistent network activity. To investigate how this spontaneous activity propagates through neuronal assemblies in vivo, we simultaneously recorded populations of 50-200 cortical neurons in layer V of anesthetized and awake rats. Each neuron displayed a virtually unique spike pattern during UP states, with diversity seen amongst both putative pyramidal cells and interneurons, reflecting a complex but stereotypically organized sequential spread of activation through local cortical networks.