Effects of high power microwave pulses on synaptic transmission and long term potentiation in hippocampus

Effects of short, extremely high power microwave pulses (EHPP) on neuronal network function were explored by electrophysiological techniques in the isolated rat hippocampal slice model. Population spikes (PS) in the CA1 area were evoked by repeated stimulation (1 per 30 s) of the Schaffer collateral pathway. A brief tetanus (2 s at 50 Hz) was used to induce long term potentiation (LTP) of synaptic transmission. In three different series of experiments with a total of 160 brain slices, the EHPP irradiation was performed before, during, or after the tetanus. The EHPP carrier frequency was 9.3 GHz, the pulse width and repetition rate were from 0.5 to 2 micros and from 0.5 to 10 Hz, respectively, and the peak specific absorption rate (SAR) in brain slices reached up to 500 MW/kg. Microwave heating of the preparation ranged from 0.5 degrees C (at 0.3 kW/kg time average SAR) to 6 degrees C (at 3.6 kW/kg). The experiments established that the only effect caused by EHPP exposure within the studied range of parameters was a transient and fully reversible decrease in the PS amplitude. Recovery took no more than a few minutes after the cessation of exposure and return to the initial temperature. This effect's features were characteristic of an ordinary thermal response: it was proportional to the temperature rise but not to any specific parameter of EHPP, and it could also be induced by a continuous wave (CW) irradiation or conventional heating. Irradiation did not affect the ability of neurons to develop LTP in response to tetanus or to retain the potentiated state that was induced before irradiation. No lasting or delayed effects of EHPP were observed. The results are consistent with the thermal mechanism of EHPP action and thus far provided no indication of EHPP-specific effects on neuronal function.