Journal of Neurophysiology, Vol 72, Issue 6 2631-2647, Copyright © 1994 by APS

ARTICLES

Synaptic plasticity in the thalamo-cortical pathway as one of the neurobiological correlates of forelimb flexion conditioning: electrophysiological investigation in the cat

E. M. Meftah and L. Rispal-Padel
Centre de Recherche Cerveau et Cognition, Faculte de Medecine de Toulouse Rangueil, UMR 9940 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France.

1. In a previous study, using a chronic cat preparation subjected to an associative conditioning procedure, we described the plasticity of the thalamo-cortical pathway by qualitatively and quantitatively analyzing the motor responses induced by stimulating each of the relays on the cerebello-thalamo-cortical pathway. In the present study, it was proposed to analyze the effects on the synapses located between thalamic endings and cortical neurones, using a twofold behavioral and electrophysiological approach, with a view to correlating the patterns of synaptic plasticity with the changes in the motor responses recorded. 2. For this purpose, a reduced, functionally organized sensorimotor circuit, which can be taken to be a neuronal analog of associative conditioning, was studied in an awake chronic animal preparation. This circuit was defined on the basis of the sites at which conditioned (CS) and unconditioned stimuli (UCS) were applied: the CS was applied at a site on the cerebellar interpositus nucleus which activated the forepaw musculature so as to induce flexion movements and the UCS was applied to the skin of the distal part of that paw so as to induce reflex flexion movements. By repetitively activating the central nervous pathways by the associated CS and UCS according to a predefined temporal pattern, the efficiency of the thalamo-cortical pathway's contribution to the movement production was enhanced, and its capacity to convey the cerebellar inputs to neurons in the motor cortex increased. 3. The associative nature of the conditioning was tested using previously established criteria. The setting up of motor and central changes in response to the repetitive presentation of paired CS and UCS, the fact that these changes were reversible because they could be abolished by applying extinction procedures, and the consistency of their occurrence whenever the CS was applied repeatedly alone for several days to naive animals, all showed that the stimuli of both kinds (CS and UCS) had to be applied together for the plasticity of the thalamo-cortical pathway to be expressed. 4. By determining whether the waves constituting the cerebello-cortical responses were excitatory or inhibitory, the nature of the changes in the transmission of the cerebellar impulses to neurons in the motor cortex was established.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

This article has been cited by other articles:

				F. Bretzner and T. Drew Changes in Corticospinal Efficacy Contribute to the Locomotor Plasticity Observed After Unilateral Cutaneous Denervation of the Hindpaw in the Cat J Neurophysiol, October 1, 2005; 94(4): 2911 - 2927. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. M. Meftah and L. Rispal-Padel Reverse Effects of Conditioning Produced by Two Different Unconditioned Stimuli on Thalamocortical Transmission J Neurophysiol, April 1, 1997; 77(4): 1663 - 1678. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]