EFFECTS OF NMDA AND NON-NMDA RECEPTORS ANTAGONISTS ON THE BEHAVIOR OF CULTURED CORTICAL NETWORKS

摘要

Nowadays several research groups in neuroscience are interested in understanding the basic mechanisms of information processing within the Central Nervous System. Thanks to the application of silicon technology in the field of cellular biology, non-conventional electrophysiological techniques allow to screen the activity of brain tissue or nervous cell cultures in spontaneous and stimulus-evoked conditions. Activity patterns in cultured networks of cortical neurons from rat embryos (E18) were investigated at different Days In Vitro (DIV), by using a multisite recording technique based on planar Micro Electrode Arrays (MEAs). Transitions in neuronal dynamics of cortical networks were induced administering antagonists of NMDA and non-NMDA receptors. Neurochemical effects on synaptic transmission were evaluated analyzing the whole network activity by means of ad-hoc developed algorithms. A decrease in excitatory synaptic transmission corresponded to a decrease in both spiking and bursting activity with a loss of network synchronization. This experimental study constitutes a potential approach to quantify how structural modifications in a neuronal network can induce changes in the computational properties of the network itself.