General anaesthetic modification of synaptic facilitation and long-term potentiation in hippocampus

The synaptic integrative properties of facilitation and potentiation are important determinants of cortical neurone excitability. The present study measured the effects of halothane and methoxyflurane on synaptic facilitation, paired-pulse potentiation, and long-term potentiation (LTP) in CA1 pyramidal neurones of rat hippocampal slices. Methoxyflurane 0.16vol% and halothane 1.2 vol% depressed population spike amplitudes by approximately 100%, but halothane did so with relatively little (less than 10%) depressant effect on the field excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP). Both agents enhanced EPSP facilitation, halothane more than methoxyflurane. Halothane consistently enhanced paired-pulse population spike potentiation; methoxyflurane sometimes diminished it. Halothane reduced the probability of LTP induction to an extent correlated with block of population spike responses in the inducing stimulus train (r = 0.92); methoxyflurane did not block LTP. The results suggest that these agents affect cortical excitability by multiple actions, the distribution of actions being specific to each agent.