Search results for "subplate"
showing 10 items of 26 documents
Cellular Mechanisms of Subplate-Driven and Cholinergic Input-Dependent Network Activity in the Neonatal Rat Somatosensory Cortex
2008
Early coordinated network activity promotes the development of cortical structures. Although these early activity patterns have been recently characterized with respect to their developmental, spatial and dynamic properties, the cellular mechanisms by which specific neuronal populations trigger coordinated activity in the neonatal cerebral cortex are still poorly understood. Here we characterize the cellular and molecular processes leading to generation of network activity during early postnatal development. We show that the somatosensory cortex of newborn rats expresses cholinergic-driven calcium transients which are synchronized within the deeply located subplate. Correspondingly, endogen…
Cajal–Retzius and subplate cells: transient cortical neurons and circuits with long-term impact
2020
Abstract The laminar and columnar organization of the mature cerebral cortex is determined by a variety of early developmental processes. Two distinct populations of early generated neurons play important roles in corticogenesis. Cajal–Retzius neurons, located in the marginal zone (later layer 1), control the formation of neocortical layers by releasing the extracellular matrix protein reelin, which serves as a guiding signal for migrating neurons. Subplate neurons in the lower neocortical layer play an active role in axonal pathfinding of thalamocortical connections and in transient synaptic circuits, influence early cortical plasticity and the maturation of the columnar architecture. Both…
Electrical activity patterns and the functional maturation of the neocortex
2011
At the earliest developmental stages, sensory neocortical areas in various species reveal distinct patterns of spontaneous neuronal network activity. These activity patterns either propagate over large neocortical areas or synchronize local neuronal ensembles. In vitro and in vivo experiments indicate that these spontaneous activity patterns are generated from neuronal networks in the cerebral cortex, in subcortical structures or in the sensory periphery (retina, cochlea, whiskers). At early stages spontaneous periphery-driven and also sensory evoked activity is relayed to the developing cerebral cortex via the thalamus and the neocortical subplate, which amplifies the afferent sensory inpu…
GABA transporters control GABAergic neurotransmission in the mouse subplate.
2015
The subplate is a transient layer between the cortical plate and intermediate zone in the developing cortex. Thalamo-cortical axons form temporary synapses on subplate neurons (SPns) before invading the cortical plate. Neuronal activity within the subplate is of critical importance for the development of neocortical circuits and architecture. Although both glutamatergic and GABAergic inputs on SPns were reported, short-term plasticity of GABAergic transmission has not been investigated yet. GABAergic postsynaptic currents (GPSCs) were recorded from SPns in coronal neocortical slices prepared from postnatal day 3-4 mice using whole-cell patch-clamp technique. Evoked GPSCs (eGPSCs) elicited b…
Malformations of Cortical Development and Neocortical Focus
2014
Abstract Developmental neocortical malformations resulting from abnormal neurogenesis, disturbances in programmed cell death, or neuronal migration disorders may cause a long-term hyperexcitability. Early generated Cajal–Retzius and subplate neurons play important roles in transient cortical circuits, and structural/functional disorders in early cortical development may induce persistent network disturbances and epileptic disorders. In particular, depolarizing GABAergic responses are important for the regulation of neurodevelopmental events, like neurogenesis or migration, while pathophysiological alterations in chloride homeostasis may cause epileptic activity. Although modern imaging tech…
Functional Synaptic Projections onto Subplate Neurons in Neonatal Rat Somatosensory Cortex
2002
Subplate neurons (SPn) play an important role in the formation of thalamocortical connections during early development and show glutamatergic and GABAergic spontaneous synaptic activity. We characterized these synaptic inputs by performing whole-cell recordings from SPn in somatosensory cortical slices of postnatal day 0-3 rats. At -70 mV, electrical stimulation of the thalamocortical afferents elicited in 68% of the SPn a monosynaptic CNQX-sensitive postsynaptic current (PSC). These fast PSCs were mediated by AMPA receptors, because they were prolonged by cyclothiazide and blocked by GYKI 52466. On membrane depolarization, thalamocortical stimulation elicited in 50% of the cells an additio…
Resonance properties of different neuronal populations in the immature mouse neocortex
2012
In vivo recordings in the immature neocortex revealed spontaneous and sensory-driven oscillatory activity from delta (0.5-4 Hz) to gamma (30-100 Hz) frequencies. In order to investigate whether the resonance properties of distinct neuronal populations in the immature neocortex contribute to these network oscillations, we performed whole-cell patch-clamp recordings from visually identified neurons in tangential and coronal neocortical slices from postnatal day (P)0-P7 C57Bl/6 mice. Subthreshold resonance was analysed by sinusoidal current injection of varying frequency. All Cajal-Retzius cells showed subthreshold resonance, with an average frequency of 2.6 ± 0.1 Hz (n = 60), which was massiv…
Transient cortical circuits match spontaneous and sensory-driven activity during development.
2020
At the earliest developmental stages, spontaneous activity synchronizes local and large-scale cortical networks. These networks form the functional template for the establishment of global thalamocortical networks and cortical architecture. The earliest connections are established autonomously. However, activity from the sensory periphery reshapes these circuits as soon as afferents reach the cortex. The early-generated, largely transient neurons of the subplate play a key role in integrating spontaneous and sensory-driven activity. Early pathological conditions—such as hypoxia, inflammation, or exposure to pharmacological compounds—alter spontaneous activity patterns, which subsequently in…
Can we understand human brain development from experimental studies in rodents?
2020
Animal models are needed to gain an understanding of the genetic, molecular, cellular, and network mechanisms of human brain development. In rodents, a large spectrum of in vitro and in vivo approaches allows detailed analyses and specific experimental manipulations for studying the sequence of developmental steps in corticogenesis. Neurogenesis, neuronal migration, cellular differentiation, programmed cell death, synaptogenesis, and myelination are surprisingly similar in the rodent cortex and the human cortex. Spontaneous EEG activity in the pre- and early postnatal human cortex resembles the activity patterns recorded with intracortical multi-electrode arrays in newborn rodents. This ear…
Functional nicotinic acetylcholine receptors on subplate neurons in neonatal rat somatosensory cortex.
2004
The establishment of cortical synaptic circuits during early development requires the presence of subplate neurons (SPn's), a heterogeneous population of neurons capable to integrate and process synaptic information from the thalamus, cortical plate, and neighboring SPn's. An accumulation of cholinergic afferents and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) has been documentated in the subplate around birth. To assess the developmental role of the cholinergic innervation onto SPn's, we used whole cell patch-clamp recordings of visually identified and biocytin-labeled SPn's in neonatal rat somatosensory cortex. Functional nAChRs were present in 92% of the investigated SPn's. Activation of…