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Original Research ARTICLE

Enhanced long-term microcircuit plasticity in the valproic acid animal model of autism

1
Laboratory of Neural Microcircuitry, Brain and Mind Institute, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
2
Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3
Cellular and Molecular Biology Department, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
A single intra-peritoneal injection of valproic acid (VPA) on embryonic day (ED) 11.5 to pregnant rats has been shown to produce severe autistic-like symptoms in the offspring. Previous studies showed that the microcircuitry is hyperreactive due to hyperconnectivity of glutamatergic synapses and hyperplastic due to over-expression of NMDA receptors. These changes were restricted to the dimensions of a minicolumn (<50 μm). In the present study, we explored whether Long Term Microcircuit Plasticity (LTMP) was altered in this animal model. We performed multi-neuron patch-clamp recordings on clusters of layer 5 pyramidal cells in somatosensory cortex brain slices (PN 12–15), mapped the connectivity and characterized the synaptic properties for connected neurons. Pipettes were then withdrawn and the slice was perfused with 100 μM sodium glutamate in artificial cerebrospinal fluid in the recording chamber for 12 h. When we re-patched the same cluster of neurons, we found enhanced LTMP only at inter-somatic distances beyond minicolumnar dimensions. These data suggest that hyperconnectivity is already near its peak within the dimensions of the minicolumn in the treated animals and that LTMP, which is normally restricted to within a minicolumn, spills over to drive hyperconnectivity across the dimensions of a minicolumn. This study provides further evidence to support the notion that the neocortex is highly plastic in response to new experiences in this animal model of autism.
Keywords:
synaptic plasticity, microcircuit plasticity, long-term microcircuit plasticity, neocortex, layer 5 pyramidal cells, valproic acid, autism spectrum disorders
Citation:
Silva GT, Le Bé J-V, Riachi I, Rinaldi T, Markram K and Markram H (2009). Enhanced long-term microcircuit plasticity in the valproic acid animal model of autism. Front. Syna. Neurosci. 1:1. doi:10.3389/neuro.19.001.2009
Received:
16 December 2008;
 Paper pending published:
23 January 2009;
Accepted:
02 June 2009;
 Published online:
24 June 2009.

Edited by:

Terrence J. Sejnowski, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, USA

Reviewed by:

Margarita Behrens, University of California, USA
Manuel Casanova, University of Louisville, USA
Copyright:
© 2009 Silva, Le Bé, Riachi, Rinaldi, Markram and Markram. This is an open-access article subject to an exclusive license agreement between the authors and the Frontiers Research Foundation, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
*Correspondence:
Henry Markram, Laboratory of Neural Microcircuitry, Brain and Mind Institute, EPFL, Lausanne, 1015 Switzerland. e-mail: henry.markram@epfl.ch

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