Spatial exploration induces a persistent reversal of long-term potentiation in rat hippocampus

Lin Xu, Roger Anwyl and Michael J. Rowan ()
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Lin Xu: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Roger Anwyl: Trinity College
Michael J. Rowan: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Nature, 1998, vol. 394, issue 6696, 891-894

Abstract: Abstract Experience-dependent long-lasting increases in excitatory synaptic transmission in the hippocampus are believed to underlie certain types of memory1,2,3. Whereas stimulation of hippocampal pathways in freely moving rats can readily elicit a long-term potentiation (LTP) of transmission that may last for weeks, previous studies have failed to detect persistent increases in synaptic efficacy after hippocampus-mediated learning4,5,6. As changes in synaptic efficacy are contingent on the history of plasticity at the synapses7, we have examined the effect of experience-dependent hippocampal activation on transmission after the induction of LTP. We show that exploration of a new, non-stressful environment rapidly induces a complete and persistent reversal ofthe expression of high-frequency stimulation-induced early-phase LTP in the CA1 area of the hippocampus, without affecting baseline transmission in a control pathway. LTP expression is not affected by exploration of familiar environments. We found that spatial exploration affected LTP within a defined time window because neither the induction of LTP nor the maintenance of long-established LTP was blocked. The discovery of a novelty-induced reversal of LTP expression provides strong evidence that extensive long-lasting decreases in synaptic efficacy may act in tandem with enhancements at selected synapses to allow the detection and storage of new information by the hippocampus.

Date: 1998
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DOI: 10.1038/29783

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