Psychophysical Evidence for Long-Term Potentiation of C-Fiber and Aδ-Fiber Pathways in Humans by Analysis of Pain Descriptors

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (3) ◽  
pp. 2559-2563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels Hansen ◽  
Thomas Klein ◽  
Walter Magerl ◽  
Rolf-Detlef Treede
Keyword(s):  
Pain Perception ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
High Frequency Stimulation ◽  
Burning Pain ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
C Fiber ◽  
Pain Ratings ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Pain Descriptors

Long-term potentiation of human pain perception (nociceptive LTP) to single electrical test stimuli was induced by high-frequency stimulation (HFS) of cutaneous nociceptive afferents. Numerical pain ratings and a list of sensory pain descriptors disclosed the same magnitude of nociceptive LTP (23% increase for >60 min, P < 0.001), whereas affective pain descriptors were not significantly enhanced. Factor analysis of the sensory pain descriptors showed that facilitation was restricted to two factors characterized by hot and burning (+41%) and piercing and stinging (+21%, both P < 0.01), whereas a factor represented by throbbing and beating was not significantly increased (+9%, P = 0.47). The increased perception of the burning pain quality for >1 h after HFS is interpreted as a LTP-like facilitation of the conditioned cutaneous C-fiber pathway. Additionally, the increase of the stinging pain quality supplied evidence for facilitation of a sharpness-sensitive Aδ-fiber pathway.

Perceptual Correlate of Nociceptive Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) in Humans Shares the Time Course of Early-LTP

2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (6) ◽  
pp. 3551-3555 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Klein ◽  
Walter Magerl ◽  
Rolf-Detlef Treede
Keyword(s):  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Pain Perception ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Afferent Input ◽  
High Frequency Stimulation ◽  
Stimulus Response ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Relay Nucleus

As in neocortex and hippocampus, neurons in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord develop long-term potentiation of synaptic efficacy (LTP) on high-frequency stimulation (HFS) of their afferent input, although how long LTP lasts in this nociceptive relay nucleus has not yet been addressed. Here we studied neurogenic hyperalgesia, a perceptual correlate of nociceptive LTP, in 13 healthy subjects, after HFS (5 × 1 s at 100 Hz) of superficial cutaneous afferents. HFS led to a mean upward shift of the stimulus–response function for pinprick-evoked pain (punctate mechanical hyperalgesia) in all subjects by a factor of 2.5 ( P < 0.001) that lasted undiminished for the initial 1-h observation period. Follow-up tests until the next day revealed that this type of neurogenic hyperalgesia decayed with a t1/2 of 3.3 h (99% CI: 3.1–3.5 h) and disappeared completely within 25.4 h (99% CI: 20.4–31.6 h). Touch-evoked pain (dynamic mechanical allodynia) developed in eight of 13 subjects, decayed with a t1/2 of 2.9 h from the maximum and disappeared within 9.3 h. These findings suggest that a single HFS session induces nociceptive LTP in healthy subjects that corresponds to early-LTP (LTP1), implying primarily posttranslational mechanisms for this type of plasticity of human pain perception.

scholarly journals Low Doses of Fentanyl Block Central Sensitization in the Rat Spinal Cord In Vivo

2004 ◽  
Vol 100 (6) ◽  
pp. 1545-1551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justus Benrath ◽  
Christina Brechtel ◽  
Eike Martin ◽  
Jürgen Sandkühler
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
High Frequency Stimulation ◽  
Low Doses ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
C Fiber ◽  
Frequency Stimulation

Background mu-Opioid receptor agonists are strong analgesics. However, their usefulness for preemptive analgesia is controversial. The authors tested antinociceptive and preemptive properties of fentanyl as a mu-opioid receptor agonist in a model of spinal nociception in vivo. Methods C fiber-evoked potentials were recorded in the superficial laminae I-II of the rat lumbar spinal cord with glass microelectrodes in response to electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerve. High-frequency stimulation was applied on the sciatic nerve to induce long-term potentiation of C fiber-evoked field potentials, a form of central sensitization. To test the effect of fentanyl on acute nociception, fentanyl was infused intravenously at increasing doses (6-192 microg.kg(-1).h(-1)). One hour after start of infusion, high-frequency stimulation was applied to evaluate effects of fentanyl on the induction of long-term potentiation. Results In the absence of fentanyl, high-frequency stimulation potentiated C fiber-evoked field potentials to 149 +/-12% of controls (mean +/-SEM; n = 6) for at least 1 h. Increasing doses of fentanyl led to a significant reduction of C fiber-evoked potentials in a dose-dependent manner. The induction of long-term potentiation was blocked by low doses of fentanyl (infusion 12-48 microg.kg(1).h(-1)). At high doses, fentanyl did not block the induction of long-term potentiation (infusion 96-192 microg.kg(-1).h(-1)). Conclusions : Low doses of fentanyl block the synaptic form of central sensitization in the rat spinal cord in vivo, but higher doses do not have this effect.

scholarly journals Imaging spatio-temporal patterns of long-term potentiation in mouse hippocampus

2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1432) ◽  
pp. 689-693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshiyuki Hosokawa ◽  
Masaki Ohta ◽  
Takeshi Saito ◽  
Alan Fine
Keyword(s):  
Hippocampal Slices ◽  
Temporal Patterns ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Optical Recording ◽  
Stratum Radiatum ◽  
High Frequency Stimulation ◽  
Optical Signals ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Spatio-temporal patterns of neuronal activity before and after the induction of long-term potentiation in mouse hippocampal slices were studied using a real-time high-resolution optical recording system. After staining the slices with voltage-sensitive dye, transmitted light images and extracellular field potentials were recorded in response to stimuli applied to CA1 stratum radiatum. Optical and electrical signals in response to single test pulses were enhanced for at least 30 minutes after brief high-frequency stimulation at the same site. In two-pathway experiments, potentiation was restricted to the tetanized pathway. The optical signals demonstrated that both the amplitude and area of the synaptic response were increased, in patterns not predictable from the initial, pretetanus, pattern of activation. Optical signals will be useful for investigating spatio-temporal patterns of synaptic enhancement underlying information storage in the brain.

scholarly journals Long-term potentiation: outstanding questions and attempted synthesis

2003 ◽  
Vol 358 (1432) ◽  
pp. 829-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Lisman
Keyword(s):  
Low Frequency ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Variable Number ◽  
High Frequency Stimulation ◽  
Memory Mechanism ◽  
Post Process ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Contradictory Evidence ◽  
Hippocampal Networks

This article attempts an overview of the mechanism of NMDAR-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP) and its role in hippocampal networks. Efforts are made to integrate information, often in speculative ways, and to identify unresolved issues about the induction, expression and molecular storage processes. The pre/post debate about LTP expression has been particularly difficult to resolve. The following hypothesis attempts to reconcile the available physiological evidence as well as anatomical evidence that LTP increases synapse size. It is proposed that synapses are composed of a variable number of trans-synaptic modules, each having presynaptic release sites and a postsynaptic structure that can be AMPAfied by the addition of a hyperslot assembly that anchors 10-20 AMPA channels. According to a newly developed view of transmission, the quantal response is generated by AMPA channels near the site of vesicle release and so will depend on whether the module where release occurs has been AMPAfied. LTP expression may involve two structurally mediated processes: (i) the AMPAfication of existing modules by addition of hyperslot assemblies: this is a purely postsynaptic process and produces an increase in the probability of an AMPA response, with no change in the NMDA component; and (ii) the addition of new modules: this is a structurally coordinated pre/post process that leads to LTP-induced synapse enlargement and potentiation of the NMDA component owing to an increase in the number of release sites (the number of NMDA channels is assumed to be fixed). The protocol used for LTP induction appears to affect the proportion of these two processes; pairing protocols that involve low-frequency presynaptic stimulation induce only AMPAfication, making LTP purely postsynaptic, whereas high-frequency stimulation evokes both processes, giving rise to a presynaptic component. This model is capable of reconciling much of the seemingly contradictory evidence in the pre/post debate. The structural nature of the postulated changes is relevant to a second debate: whether a CaMKII switch or protein-dependent structural change is the molecular memory mechanism. A possible reconciliation is that a reversible CaMKII switch controls the construction of modules and hyperslot assemblies from newly synthesized proteins.

scholarly journals Tau- but not Aß -pathology enhances NMDAR-dependent depotentiation in AD-mouse models

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Faldini ◽  
Tariq Ahmed ◽  
Luc Bueé ◽  
David Blum ◽  
Detlef Balschun
Keyword(s):  
Synaptic Plasticity ◽  
Transgenic Mice ◽  
Mouse Models ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
High Frequency Stimulation ◽  
Synaptic Loss ◽  
Ca1 Region ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Frequency Stimulation

AbstractMany mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) exhibit impairments in hippocampal long-term-potentiation (LTP), seemingly corroborating the strong correlation between synaptic loss and cognitive decline reported in human studies. In other AD mouse models LTP is unaffected, but other defects in synaptic plasticity may still be present. We recently reported that THY-Tau22 transgenic mice, that overexpress human Tau protein carrying P301S and G272 V mutations and show normal LTP upon high-frequency-stimulation (HFS), develop severe changes in NMDAR mediated long-term-depression (LTD), the physiological counterpart of LTP. In the present study, we focused on putative effects of AD-related pathologies on depotentiation (DP), another form of synaptic plasticity. Using a novel protocol to induce DP in the CA1-region, we found in 11–15 months old male THY-Tau22 and APPPS1–21 transgenic mice that DP was not deteriorated by Aß pathology while significantly compromised by Tau pathology. Our findings advocate DP as a complementary form of synaptic plasticity that may help in elucidating synaptic pathomechanisms associated with different types of dementia.

scholarly journals Cholecystokinin release triggered by NMDA receptors produces LTP and sound–sound associative memory

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (13) ◽  
pp. 6397-6406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xi Chen ◽  
Xiao Li ◽  
Yin Ting Wong ◽  
Xuejiao Zheng ◽  
Haitao Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Associative Learning ◽  
Associative Memory ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
High Frequency Stimulation ◽  
Low Frequency Stimulation ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Frequency Stimulation

Memory is stored in neural networks via changes in synaptic strength mediated in part by NMDA receptor (NMDAR)-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP). Here we show that a cholecystokinin (CCK)-B receptor (CCKBR) antagonist blocks high-frequency stimulation-induced neocortical LTP, whereas local infusion of CCK induces LTP. CCK−/−mice lacked neocortical LTP and showed deficits in a cue–cue associative learning paradigm; and administration of CCK rescued associative learning deficits. High-frequency stimulation-induced neocortical LTP was completely blocked by either the NMDAR antagonist or the CCKBR antagonist, while application of either NMDA or CCK induced LTP after low-frequency stimulation. In the presence of CCK, LTP was still induced even after blockade of NMDARs. Local application of NMDA induced the release of CCK in the neocortex. These findings suggest that NMDARs control the release of CCK, which enables neocortical LTP and the formation of cue–cue associative memory.

scholarly journals LTD and LTP at the Developing Retinogeniculate Synapse

2009 ◽  
Vol 102 (6) ◽  
pp. 3082-3090 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jokūbas Žiburkus ◽  
Emily K. Dilger ◽  
Fu-Sun Lo ◽  
William Guido
Keyword(s):  
Optic Tract ◽  
Long Term Potentiation ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
High Frequency Stimulation ◽  
Retinal Stimulation ◽  
Term Potentiation ◽  
Frequency Stimulation ◽  
Retinogeniculate Synapse

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether retinal activity can support long-term changes in synaptic strength in the developing dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) of thalamus. To test for this we made use of a rodent in vitro explant preparation in which retinal afferents and the intrinsic circuitry of the LGN remain intact. We repetitively stimulated the optic tract with a tetanus protocol that approximated the temporal features of spontaneous retinal waves. We found the amplitude of extracellular field potentials evoked by retinal stimulation changed significantly after tetanus and that the polarity of these alterations was related to postnatal age. At a time when substantial pruning of retinal connections occurs (postnatal day 1 [P1] to P14), high-frequency stimulation led to an immediate and long-term depression (LTD). However, at times when pruning wanes and adultlike patterns of connectivity are stabilizing (P16 to P30), the identical form of stimulation produced a modest form of potentiation (long-term potentiation [LTP]). The LTD was unaffected by the bath application of γ-aminobutyric acid type A and N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonists. However, both LTD and LTP were blocked by L-type Ca2+-channel antagonists. Thus the Ca2+ influx associated with L-type channel activation mediates the induction of synaptic plasticity and may signal the pruning and subsequent stabilization of developing retinogeniculate connections.

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