Hippocampal long-term potentiation is not accompanied by presynaptic spike broadening, unlike synaptic potentiation...

The expression of hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) is thought to be at least partly due to increased transmitter release. To test whether this increase is due to a broadening of the presynaptic action potential, we have compared the presynaptic fibre volley before and after LTP induction, or application of K+ channel blockers, in CA1 of rat hippocampal slices. Tetraethylammonium (TEA; 1 mM) induced a parallel increase in the fibre volley duration of the slope of the field EPSP, indicating that a presynaptic spike broadening underlying synaptic potentiation can be detected. In contrast, induction of LTP did not produce any measurable change in the fibre volley, although the average increase in the EPSP slope was larger than with TEA. These results indicate that LTP expression is not primarily due to a presynaptic spike broadening.