RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Age-dependent Homeostatic Plasticity of GABAergic Signaling in Developing Retinal Networks
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 12159
OP 12164
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3112-11.2011
VO 31
IS 34
A1 Matthias H. Hennig
A1 John Grady
A1 James van Coppenhagen
A1 Evelyne Sernagor
YR 2011
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/34/12159.abstract
AB Developing retinal ganglion cells fire in correlated spontaneous bursts, resulting in propagating waves with robust spatiotemporal features preserved across development and species. Here we investigate the effects of homeostatic adaptation on the circuits controlling retinal waves. Mouse retinal waves were recorded in vitro for up to 35 h with a multielectrode array in presence of the GABAA antagonist bicuculline, allowing us to obtain a precise, time-resolved characterization of homeostatic effects in this preparation. Experiments were performed at P4–P6, when GABAA signaling is depolarizing in ganglion cells, and at P7–P10, when GABAA signaling is hyperpolarizing. At all ages, bicuculline initially increased the wave sizes and other activity metrics. At P5–P6, wave sizes decreased toward control levels within a few hours while firing remained strong, but this ability to compensate disappeared entirely from P7 onwards. This demonstrates that homeostatic control of spontaneous retinal activity maintains specific network dynamic properties in an age-dependent manner, and suggests that the underlying mechanism is linked to GABAA signaling.