GABAergic CA1 neurons are more stable following context changes than glutamatergic cells

Author(s)

Schuette, Peter J. ; Ikebara, Juliane M. ; Maesta-Pereira, Sandra ; Torossian, Anita ; Sethi, Ekayana ; Kihara, Alexandre H. ; Kao, Jonathan C. ; Reis, Fernando M. C., V ; Adhikari, Avishek

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS; v. 12, n. 1, p. 18-pg., 2022-06-20.

Abstract

The CA1 region of the hippocampus contains both glutamatergic pyramidal cells and GABAergic interneurons. Numerous reports have characterized glutamatergic CAMK2A cell activity, showing how these cells respond to environmental changes such as local cue rotation and context re-sizing. Additionally, the long-term stability of spatial encoding and turnover of these cells across days is also well-characterized. In contrast, these classic hippocampal experiments have never been conducted with CA1 GABAergic cells. Here, we use chronic calcium imaging of male and female mice to compare the neural activity of VGAT and CAMK2A cells during exploration of unaltered environments and also during exposure to contexts before and after rotating and changing the length of the context across multiple recording days. Intriguingly, compared to CAMK2A cells, VGAT cells showed decreased remapping induced by environmental changes, such as context rotations and contextual length resizing. However, GABAergic neurons were also less likely than glutamatergic neurons to remain active and exhibit consistent place coding across recording days. Interestingly, despite showing significant spatial remapping across days, GABAergic cells had stable speed encoding between days. Thus, compared to glutamatergic cells, spatial encoding of GABAergic cells is more stable during within-session environmental perturbations, but is less stable across days. These insights may be crucial in accurately modeling the features and constraints of hippocampal dynamics in spatial coding. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/17329-3 - Characterization of the interneurons population and in vivo cortical and hippocampal electrophysiological activity of adult rats submitted to neonatal anoxia
• Grantee: Juliane Midori Ikebara
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 17/08668-1 - In vivo study of GABAergic and glutamatergic neuronal populations of the periaqueductal gray matter in response to different kinds of threat
• Grantee: Fernando Midea Cuccovia Vasconcelos Reis
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• FAPESP's process: 19/17677-0 - Effects of neonatal anoxia on spatial memory and place cells activity in adult rodents
• Grantee: Juliane Midori Ikebara
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 19/17892-8 - Degeneration and development of the nervous system: the role of epigenetic processes
• Grantee: Alexandre Hiroaki Kihara
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 15/23092-3 - Signaling pathways involved in fear memory to predatory threats
• Grantee: Fernando Midea Cuccovia Vasconcelos Reis
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral