Network processes involved in the mediation of short-term habituation in Aplysia: contribution of intrinsic regulation of excitability and synaptic augmentation

Habituation of the Interlimb Reflex (ILR) Over the Biceps Brachii Muscle After Electrical Stimuli Over the Sural Nerve

Up to now relatively little is known about interlimb reflexes (ILR). Especially it is not well known whether ILR may habituate or not to subsequent stimuli. The main aim of the present investigation was to explore the short term habituation behavior of ILR. The electromyogram was recorded over the tonically active biceps brachii (BB) muscle in 11 healthy subjects contralateral and ipsilateral to supramaximum electrical stimuli (9–12 mA) that were delivered at 1.0 and 0.4 Hz over the left sural nerve. In addition, a selective averaging method was used to investigate the influence of preceding stimuli on the ILR. Thus, 30 blocks of 3 subsequent stimuli were used. All 1st ILR of each block were averaged together. Averages were also obtained for 2nd and 3rd ILR. While ILR amplitudes gained significantly both ipsilateral and contralateral to the stimulus (p < 0.05) after train stimuli as compared with single stimuli, ILR amplitudes showed a significant decrease at 1.0 Hz versus 0.4 Hz stimuli. ILR amplitudes decreased significantly after the 2nd and 3rd stimulus relative to the 1st (p < 0.05). ILR can be recorded bilaterally remote from the stimulus site. Furthermore, ILR show clear short term habituation behavior.

BK Channels Mediate Synaptic Plasticity Underlying Habituation in Rats

Habituation is a basic form of implicit learning and represents a sensory filter that is disrupted in autism, schizophrenia, and several other mental disorders. Despite extensive research in the past decades on habituation of startle and other escape responses, the underlying neural mechanisms are still not fully understood. There is evidence from previous studies indicating that BK channels might play a critical role in habituation. We here used a wide array of approaches to test this hypothesis. We show that BK channel activation and subsequent phosphorylation of these channels are essential for synaptic depression presumably underlying startle habituation in rats, using patch-clamp recordings and voltage-sensitive dye imaging in slices. Furthermore, positive modulation of BK channels in vivo can enhance short-term habituation. Although results using different approaches do not always perfectly align, together they provide convincing evidence for a crucial role of BK channel phosphorylation in synaptic depression underlying short-term habituation of startle. We also show that this mechanism can be targeted to enhance short-term habituation and therefore to potentially ameliorate sensory filtering deficits associated with psychiatric disorders.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Short-term habituation is the most fundamental form of implicit learning. Habituation also represents a filter for inundating sensory information, which is disrupted in autism, schizophrenia, and other psychiatric disorders. Habituation has been studied in different organisms and behavioral models and is thought to be caused by synaptic depression in respective pathways. The underlying molecular mechanisms, however, are poorly understood. We here identify, for the first time, a BK channel-dependent molecular synaptic mechanism leading to synaptic depression that is crucial for habituation, and we discuss the significance of our findings for potential treatments enhancing habituation.