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The Journal of Neuroscience, July 15, 2009, 29(28):9011-9025; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5646-08.2009

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Three Patterns of Oscillatory Activity Differentially Synchronize Developing Neocortical Networks In Vivo

Jenq-Wei Yang, ^* Ileana L. Hanganu-Opatz, ^* Jyh-Jang Sun, and Heiko J. Luhmann

Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Mainz, D-55128 Mainz, Germany

Correspondence should be addressed to Heiko J. Luhmann, Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Mainz, Duesbergweg 6, D-55128 Mainz, Germany. Email: luhmann{at}uni-mainz.de

Coordinated patterns of electrical activity are important for the early development of sensory systems. The spatiotemporal dynamics of these early activity patterns and the role of the peripheral sensory input for their generation are essentially unknown. We performed extracellular multielectrode recordings in the somatosensory cortex of postnatal day 0 to 7 rats in vivo and observed three distinct patterns of synchronized oscillatory activity. (1) Spontaneous and periphery-driven spindle bursts of 1–2 s in duration and 10 Hz in frequency occurred approximately every 10 s. (2) Spontaneous and sensory-driven gamma oscillations of 150–300 ms duration and 30–40 Hz in frequency occurred every 10–30 s. (3) Long oscillations appeared only every 20 min and revealed the largest amplitude (250–750 µV) and longest duration (>40 s). These three distinct patterns of early oscillatory activity differently synchronized the neonatal cortical network. Whereas spindle bursts and gamma oscillations did not propagate and synchronized a local neuronal network of 200–400 µm in diameter, long oscillations propagated with 25–30 µm/s and synchronized 600–800 µm large ensembles. All three activity patterns were triggered by sensory activation. Single electrical stimulation of the whisker pad or tactile whisker activation elicited neocortical spindle bursts and gamma activity. Long oscillations could be only evoked by repetitive sensory stimulation. The neonatal oscillatory patterns in vivo depended on NMDA receptor-mediated synaptic transmission and gap junctional coupling. Whereas spindle bursts and gamma oscillations may represent an early functional columnar-like pattern, long oscillations may serve as a propagating activation signal consolidating these immature neuronal networks.

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Received Nov. 26, 2008; revised May 29, 2009; accepted June 7, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to Heiko J. Luhmann, Institute of Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Mainz, Duesbergweg 6, D-55128 Mainz, Germany. Email: luhmann{at}uni-mainz.de

Related articles in J. Neurosci.:

Oscillations in the Developing Cortex: A Mechanism for Establishing and Synchronizing an Early Network?

Abhishek Banerjee and Tommas J. Ellender
J. Neurosci. 2009 29: 15029-15030. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Banerjee and T. J. Ellender Oscillations in the Developing Cortex: A Mechanism for Establishing and Synchronizing an Early Network? J. Neurosci., December 2, 2009; 29(48): 15029 - 15030. [Full Text] [PDF]

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