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Updated: Dec 18, 2025
Optogenetic Entrainment of Hippocampal Theta Oscillations in Behaving Mice
Published on: June 29, 2018
Rhythmic light flicker rescues hippocampal low gamma and protects ischemic neurons by enhancing presynaptic
Lifeng Zheng1, Mei Yu1, Rui Lin1
1Brain Research Centre and Department of Biology, Southern University of Science and Technology, 1088 Xueyuan Blvd, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, 518055, Guangdong Province, China.
Abstract:
The complex relationship between specific hippocampal oscillation frequency deficit and cognitive dysfunction in the ischemic brain is unclear. Here, using a mouse two-vessel occlusion (2VO) cerebral ischemia model, we show that visual stimulation with a 40 Hz light flicker drove hippocampal CA1 slow gamma and restored 2VO-induced reduction in CA1 slow gamma power and theta-low gamma phase-amplitude coupling, but not those of the high gamma. Low gamma frequency lights at 30 Hz, 40 Hz, and 50 Hz, but not 10 Hz, 80 Hz, and arrhythmic frequency light, were protective against degenerating CA1 neurons after 2VO, demonstrating the importance of slow gamma in cognitive functions after cerebral ischemia. Mechanistically, 40 Hz light flicker enhanced RGS12-regulated CA3-CA1 presynaptic N-type calcium channel-dependent short-term synaptic plasticity and associated postsynaptic long term potentiation (LTP) after 2VO. These results support a causal relationship between CA1 slow gamma and cognitive dysfunctions in the ischemic brain.
