Dendritic spikes in hippocampal granule cells are necessary for long-term potentiation at the perforant path synapse

Long-term potentiation (LTP) of synaptic responses is essential for hippocampal memory function. Perforant-path (PP) synapses on hippocampal granule cells (GCs) contribute to the formation of associative memories, which are considered the cellular correlates of memory engrams. However, the mechanism...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:eLife 2018-03, Vol.7
Main Authors: Kim, Sooyun, Kim, Yoonsub, Lee, Suk-Ho, Ho, Won-Kyung
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
action potential backpropagation
active dendrites
Back propagation
Brain slice preparation
Data analysis
Dendrites
dendritic spike
Dentate gyrus
dentate gyrus granule cell
Experiments
Firing pattern
Glutamic acid receptors (ionotropic)
Granule cells
Hippocampus
Long-term potentiation
Medical research
Memory
N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid receptors
Neuroscience
perforant-path synapse
Regression analysis
Synapses
University colleges
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Summary:Long-term potentiation (LTP) of synaptic responses is essential for hippocampal memory function. Perforant-path (PP) synapses on hippocampal granule cells (GCs) contribute to the formation of associative memories, which are considered the cellular correlates of memory engrams. However, the mechanisms of LTP at these synapses are not well understood. Due to sparse firing activity and the voltage attenuation in their dendrites, it remains unclear how associative LTP at distal synapses occurs. Here, we show that NMDA receptor-dependent LTP can be induced at PP-GC synapses without backpropagating action potentials (bAPs) in acute rat brain slices. Dendritic recordings reveal substantial attenuation of bAPs as well as local dendritic Na spike generation during PP-GC input. Inhibition of dendritic Na spikes impairs LTP induction at PP-GC synapse. These data suggest that dendritic spikes may constitute a key cellular mechanism for memory formation in the dentate gyrus.
ISSN:2050-084X
2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/elife.35269