DOI: 10.1152/jn.00316.2002. Spontaneous Development of Synchronous Oscillatory Activity During Maturation of Cortical Networks In Vitro

Spontaneous Development of Synchronous Oscillatory Activity During Maturation of Cortical Networks In Vitro

10.1152/jn.00316.2002

Crossref journal-article

American Physiological Society

Journal of Neurophysiology (24)

Abstract

Recent studies have focused attention on mechanisms of spontaneous large-scale wavelike activity during early development of the neocortex. In this study, we describe and characterize synchronous neuronal activity that occurs in cultured cortical networks naturally without pharmacological intervention. The synchronous activity that can be detected by means of Fluo-3 fluorescence imaging starts to develop at the beginning of the second week in culture and eventually includes the entire neuronal population about 1 wk later. A synchronous increase of [Ca2+]i in the neuronal population is associated with a burst of action potentials riding on a long-lasting depolarization recorded in a single cell. It is suggested that this depolarization results directly from synaptic current, which was comprised of at least three different components mediated by AMPA, N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA), and GABAA receptors. We never observed a gradually depolarizing pacemaker potential and found no evidence for a change of excitability during inter-burst periods. However, we found evidence for a period of synaptic depression after bursts. Network excitability recovers gradually over seconds from this depression that can explain the episodic nature of spontaneous network activity. Using pharmacological manipulation to investigate the propagation of activity in the network, we show that synchronous network activity depends on both glutamatergic and GABAAergic neurotransmission during a brief period. Reversal potential of GABAA receptor-mediated current was found to be significantly more positive than resting membrane potential both at 1 and 2 wk in culture, suggesting depolarizing action of GABA. However, in cultures older than 2 wk, inhibition of GABAAreceptors does not result in block of synchronous network activity but in modulation of burst width and frequency.

Bibliography

Opitz, T., De Lima, A. D., & Voigt, T. (2002). Spontaneous Development of Synchronous Oscillatory Activity During Maturation of Cortical Networks In Vitro. Journal of Neurophysiology, 88(5), 2196â2206.

Authors 3

Thoralf Opitz (first)
Ana D. De Lima (additional)
Thomas Voigt (additional)

References 49 Referenced 153

Dates

Type	When
Created	19 years, 3 months ago (May 30, 2006, 10:06 p.m.)
Deposited	5 years, 11 months ago (Sept. 8, 2019, 8:36 p.m.)
Indexed	3 days, 2 hours ago (Sept. 4, 2025, 10:11 a.m.)
Issued	22 years, 10 months ago (Nov. 1, 2002)
Published	22 years, 10 months ago (Nov. 1, 2002)
Published Print	22 years, 10 months ago (Nov. 1, 2002)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Opitz_2002, title={Spontaneous Development of Synchronous Oscillatory Activity During Maturation of Cortical Networks In Vitro}, volume={88}, ISSN={1522-1598}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/jn.00316.2002}, DOI={10.1152/jn.00316.2002}, number={5}, journal={Journal of Neurophysiology}, publisher={American Physiological Society}, author={Opitz, Thoralf and De Lima, Ana D. and Voigt, Thomas}, year={2002}, month=nov, pages={2196–2206} }

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