Long-lasting potentiation of field potentials in primary and secondary somatosensory cortex

Patterns of lateral sensory cortical activation determined using functional magnetic resonance imaging

OBJECT

Functional magnetic resonance (fMR) imaging was performed in human volunteers to determine the lateral perisylvian cortical areas activated by innocuous cutaneous stimulation.

METHODS

Eight volunteers who underwent 53 separate experiments form the basis of this report. Eight contiguous coronal slices were obtained using echoplanar fMR imaging techniques while participants were at rest and while somatosensory activation stimuli consisting of vibration or air puffs were delivered to various body areas. The data were analyzed using Student's t-test and cluster analysis to determine significant differences between the resting and activated states. The findings were as follows: the areas in the lateral cortex activated by the stimuli were the primary sensory cortex (SI), the second somatosensory area (SII), the insula, the superior parietal lobule, and the retroinsular parietal operculum (RIPO). Somatotopy was demonstrable in SI but not in the other areas identified. There was a surprisingly low correlation between the amount of cortex activated in the various areas, which could mean separate inputs and functions for the areas identified. The highest correlation was found between activity in SII and RIPO (0.69).

CONCLUSIONS

The authors maintain that fMR imaging can be used to identify multiple lateral somatosensory areas in humans. Somatotopy is demonstrated in SI but not in the other lateral cortical sensory areas. The correlations between the amounts of cortex activated in the different lateral sensory areas are low. Recognition of the multiple lateral sensory areas is important both for understanding sensory cortical function and for safe interpretation of studies designed to identify the central sulcus by activating SI.

Long-lasting potentiation in the secondary somatosensory cortex affects motor control: assessment by H-reflex

We investigated descending projections from the secondary somatosensory cortex to the feline spinal cord and the effects of long-lasting potentiation in secondary somatosensory cortex on the activities of motoneurons of the cat. Electrophysiological examinations revealed that the low-intensity subthreshold secondary somatosensory cortex stimulation could change the H-Reflex induced by radial nerve stimulation. The H-wave amplitudes, recorded in wrist flexor muscles, were enhanced when the intervals from secondary somatosensory cortex to radial nerve stimuli were altered from 0 to 30 ms (initial excitation, 146 +/- 11% (mean +/- S.E.M.) of the control value). In contrast, the H-waves were suppressed with intervals longer than 30 ms (80 +/- 3%). The descending pathways from secondary somatosensory cortex to the spinal cord were assessed using an immunohistochemical technique. c-Fos and Zif268 proteins, induced by stimulation of the hand-represented secondary somatosensory cortex areas, could thus express in activated cervical neurons. The density of labeled cells was significantly higher in the seventh and eighth cervical segments than in other levels. The great majority of positive cells were distributed in the lateral part of the contralateral ventral horn and their somas ranged from 10 to 50 microns in size. Finally, we examined the effects of long-lasting potentiation, induced by high-frequency stimulation of the ventral posterolateral thalamic nucleus, on the activities of spinal motoneurons. Long-lasting potentiation altered the previously observed effects of secondary somatosensory cortex stimulation on the H-wave amplitude. The secondary somatosensory cortex-conditioned initial excitation of the H-reflex was enhanced (from 139 to 175%, P < 0.05), while late suppression was completely blocked (from 74 to 112%, P < 0.01). In conclusion, the descending pathways from secondary somatosensory cortex to the spinal cord modulated the H-reflex, and long-lasting potentiation in secondary somatosensory cortex affected this modulation. We have previously reported that corticocortical inputs from primary to secondary somatosensory cortex is required for induction of long-lasting potentiation in secondary somatosensory cortex. Taken together, the present study suggests that cortical plasticity in secondary somatosensory cortex amplifies somatic inputs from primary somatosensory cortex as a means of adaptive motor control by the sensory system.

Protein kinase C inhibitors affect induction of long-lasting potentiation in the somatosensory cortex

The effects of protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors on the induction of long lasting potentiation (LLP) of field potentials in the feline somatosensory cortex were studied. LLP was induced by high frequency stimulation (HFS, 200 Hz) of the ventral posterolateral thalamic nucleus. First, the effects of a protein kinase inhibitor, H-7, and a specific PKC catalytic domain inhibitor, chelerythrine, on the LLP in the secondary somatosensory cortex (SII) were investigated. Intracortical microinjections of H-7 and chelerythrine at 30 min before HFS inhibited induction of LLP in SII, while an injection of chelerythrine at 60 min after LLP induction had no effect on the potentiation. Second, changes in PKC activity in the presence of calcium and phosphatidylserine were investigated in SII after induction of LLP. Triton-soluble membrane fractional PKC activity had increased to 350% of the control value with low frequency test stimulation (0.1 Hz) by five min after HFS. In contrast, PKC activities of cytosolic fractions decreased to 25.6% of the control value. At 60 min after HFS, the PKC activity level returned to the control value, despite persistent potentiation in all cases. PKC activation is considered to be one of the factors required for induction of LLP but not for maintenance in SII.

Induction of long-lasting potentiation in the secondary somatosensory cortex by thalamic stimulation requires cortico-cortical pathways from the primary somatosensory cortex

We have investigated the role of cortico-cortical inputs from the primary somatosensory cortex in the induction of long-lasting potentiation in the secondary somatosensory cortex. Long-lasting potentiation of evoked potentials in the feline secondary somatosensory cortex is induced by high frequency stimulation of the ventral posterolateral thalamic nucleus. The secondary somatosensory cortex receives two projections from the ventral posterolateral thalamic nucleus; a direct pathway from the ventral posterolateral thalamic nucleus and a cortico-cortical pathway via the primary somatosensory cortex. The present study was designed to examine dominance of these pathways in the induction of long-lasting potentiation in the secondary somatosensory cortex. Long-lasting potentiation was evaluated by changes in the amplitude of field potentials and current source densities elicited by ventral posterolateral thalamic nucleus test stimulation (0.1 Hz) following conditioning stimulation. The conditioning stimulation, consisting of 20 trains of 200 Hz bursts, was delivered to the ventral posterolateral thalamic nucleus or the primary somatosensory cortex. Field potentials in the secondary somatosensory cortex were simultaneously recorded at 16 points placed vertically at 150 microns intervals from the cortical surface and current source density was computed using these field potentials. First, we blocked inputs from the primary somatosensory cortex to the secondary somatosensory cortex by intracortical injection of lidocaine into the primary somatosensory cortex. The amplitudes of the field potentials recorded in the secondary somatosensory cortex diminished within 5 min after lidocaine injection. Current source density analysis showed a marked decrease in the sink currents in layers II/III (at depths of 450-600 microns).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

NMDA receptor-dependent long-term potentiation in the hippocampal afferent fibre system to the prefrontal cortex in the rat

This study investigated the role of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) subtype of glutamate receptor in the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampal-prefrontal cortex pathway in vivo. Field potentials evoked by electrical stimulation of the CA1/subicular region were recorded in the prelimbic area of the prefrontal cortex under continuous perfusion of artificial cerebrospinal fluid in anaesthetized rats. High-frequency stimulation of the CA1/subicular region induced LTP of the evoked response in the prelimbic area of the prefrontal cortex. LTP was completely blocked when the selective NMDA receptor antagonist D-(-)2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (D-AP5; 200 microM), was perfused during the tetanus. Perfusion of D-AP5 did not affect normal transmission or pre-established LTP. These results demonstrate that induction of LTP in the hippocampal-prefrontal cortex pathway is an NMDA receptor-dependent process.

Post-activation potentiation in the neocortex: I. Acute preparations

Long-term potentiation is widely studied as a memory model, and has been demonstrated in a number of subcortical sites in both acute and chronic preparations. In the neocortex, however, most of the demonstrations of LTP have been in neocortical slice or acute preparations, and even these have often required a drug-induced attenuation of inhibition before the LTP could be reliably expressed. In this paper we show that LTP can be reliably expressed in adult rats in a number of neocortical sites, both ipsilateral and contralateral to the site of callosal stimulation. We also show that, when recording field potentials, LTP is expressed roughly equally at all cortical depths. In a third experiment, we monitored input/output (I/O), paired-pulse inhibition and short-term potentiation effects over the course of LTP induction. The ipsilateral responses were, as expected, of shorter latency and larger amplitude than contralateral responses. They also showed small spike-like components that correlated with cell discharge. Nevertheless, the contralateral responses tended to show the largest LTP effects. The paired pulse effect was mainly depression, lasting for up to 3000 ms, at both ipsilateral and control sites. The short-term potentiation components were best fit by two summed exponentials with time constants of about 70 s and 12 min. The LTP effect lasted at least two h which was the longest period monitored in these experiments.