Effects of increasing CREB-dependent transcription on the storage and recall processes in a hippocampal CA1 microcircuit.

The involvement of the hippocampus in learning processes and major brain diseases makes it an ideal candidate to investigate possible ways to devise effective therapies for memory-related pathologies like Alzheimer's Disease (AD). It has been previously reported that augmenting CREB activity increases the synaptic Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) magnitude in CA1 pyramidal neurons and their intrinsic excitability in healthy rodents. It has also been suggested that hippocampal CREB signaling is likely to be down-regulated during AD, possibly degrading memory functions. Therefore, the concept of CREB-based memory enhancers, i.e. drugs that would boost memory by activation of CREB, has emerged. Here, using a model of a CA1 microcircuit, we investigate whether hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neuron properties altered by increasing CREB activity may contribute to improve memory storage and recall. With a set of patterns presented to a network, we find that the pattern recall quality under AD-like conditions is significantly better when boosting CREB function with respect to control. The results are robust and consistent upon increasing the synaptic damage expected by AD progression, supporting the idea that the use of CREB-based therapies could provide a new approach to treat AD.

On the mechanisms underlying the depolarization block in the spiking dynamics of CA1 pyramidal neurons.

Under sustained input current of increasing strength neurons eventually stop firing, entering a depolarization block. This is a robust effect that is not usually explored in experiments or explicitly implemented or tested in models. However, the range of current strength needed for a depolarization block could be easily reached with a random background activity of only a few hundred excitatory synapses. Depolarization block may thus be an important property of neurons that should be better characterized in experiments and explicitly taken into account in models at all implementation scales. Here we analyze the spiking dynamics of CA1 pyramidal neuron models using the same set of ionic currents on both an accurate morphological reconstruction and on its reduction to a single-compartment. The results show the specific ion channel properties and kinetics that are needed to reproduce the experimental findings, and how their interplay can drastically modulate the neuronal dynamics and the input current range leading to a depolarization block. We suggest that this can be one of the rate-limiting mechanisms protecting a CA1 neuron from excessive spiking activity.

Emergent synchronous bursting of oxytocin neuronal network.

When young suckle, they are rewarded intermittently with a let-down of milk that results from reflex secretion of the hormone oxytocin; without oxytocin, newly born young will die unless they are fostered. Oxytocin is made by magnocellular hypothalamic neurons, and is secreted from their nerve endings in the pituitary in response to action potentials (spikes) that are generated in the cell bodies and which are propagated down their axons to the nerve endings. Normally, oxytocin cells discharge asynchronously at 1-3 spikes/s, but during suckling, every 5 min or so, each discharges a brief, intense burst of spikes that release a pulse of oxytocin into the circulation. This reflex was the first, and is perhaps the best, example of a physiological role for peptide-mediated communication within the brain: it is coordinated by the release of oxytocin from the dendrites of oxytocin cells; it can be facilitated by injection of tiny amounts of oxytocin into the hypothalamus, and it can be blocked by injection of tiny amounts of oxytocin antagonist. Here we show how synchronized bursting can arise in a neuronal network model that incorporates basic observations of the physiology of oxytocin cells. In our model, bursting is an emergent behaviour of a complex system, involving both positive and negative feedbacks, between many sparsely connected cells. The oxytocin cells are regulated by independent afferent inputs, but they interact by local release of oxytocin and endocannabinoids. Oxytocin released from the dendrites of these cells has a positive-feedback effect, while endocannabinoids have an inhibitory effect by suppressing the afferent input to the cells.