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Isolation and Culture of Hippocampal Neurons from Prenatal Mice
10:27

Isolation and Culture of Hippocampal Neurons from Prenatal Mice

Published on: July 26, 2012

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Effect of prenatal stress on neural oscillations in developing hippocampal formation

Hui Zhang1, Qun Li2, Yingchun Shang2

  • 1College of Life Sciences and Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials Ministry of Education, Nankai University, 300071 Tianjin, PR China; Key Laboratory for Critical Care Medicine of the Ministry of Health, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin, PR China.

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry
|November 5, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Prenatal stress (PS) significantly alters neural oscillations and their interactions in the hippocampus of offspring rats. These changes in brain activity, particularly cross-frequency coupling, may explain behavioral deficits observed in young and adult rats exposed to stress.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Behavioral Biology

Background:

  • Prenatal stress (PS) is known to affect offspring behavior and synaptic function.
  • Mechanisms underlying PS effects at synaptic and molecular levels are studied, but hippocampal neural oscillations remain unexplored.
  • The impact of PS on neural oscillations and their interactions in the hippocampus is currently unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the influence of prenatal stress on neural oscillations and their interactions in the hippocampus of offspring rats.
  • To analyze changes in power spectrum, coherence, phase synchronization, and cross-frequency coupling in response to PS.
  • To explore the developmental trajectory of these neural alterations across different postnatal ages.

Main Methods:

  • A rat model of prenatal stress was established using restraint stress.
  • Local-field potentials (LFPs) were recorded from hippocampal CA3 and CA1 regions in young, adolescent, and early-adult offspring.
  • LFPs were analyzed using algorithms to assess power spectrum, coherence, phase synchronization, and cross-frequency coupling.

Main Results:

  • Prenatal stress significantly impacted power distribution (1-100 Hz) across developmental stages.
  • Identical-frequency synchronizations (coherence, phase synchronization) between CA3 and CA1 were reduced in PS rats.
  • PS impaired cross-frequency coupling between theta and gamma rhythms, with significant PS × age interactions observed.

Conclusions:

  • Prenatal stress alters neural oscillations and their interactions in the hippocampal CA3-CA1 pathway.
  • These alterations may underlie previously reported behavioral and synaptic impairments in PS offspring.
  • Cross-frequency coupling dynamics appear particularly sensitive to PS and age, reflecting developmental differences in behavioral outcomes.

Keywords:
Cross-frequency couplingHippocampusNeural oscillationsPrenatal stressSynchronization

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