Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology - contenuto non piu disponibile

The consolidation of changes following activity-dependent neural plasticity are believed to involve specific patterns of gene expression. In the hippocampus, immediate early genes are thought to contribute to long-term synaptic plasticity (LTP and LTD); this phenomenon may occur also in the cerebellum, in which the transcription factors c-Fos and P-CREB have been identified. The cerebellum granular layer (GL) can manifest both LTP and LTD following a Theta Burst Stimulus (TBS) delivered to the mossy fibers. We have employed VSD imaging in rat cerebellar slices (P18-24) in order to map the spatial distribution of LTP and LTD in the cerebellum GL. Fluorescence changes were correlated to LTP or LTD in two different post-TBS time ranges (15 and 120 min). Slices were then fixed and processed for immunohistochemistry in order to identify levels of c-Fos and P-CREB expression. The induction of long-term plasticity increased the average level of P-CREB both at 15 min (+39±4.9, p