Frequency potentiation in the medial cortex of young turtle brains in vitro

Turtle brains have a relatively primitive cortex. Glutamate receptors in the cortex of turtles include N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and DL-alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-propionic acid (AMPA). Our aim was to determine whether the medial cortex in turtles, like the cortex and hippocampus in mammals exhibits frequency potentiation, a non-lasting form of synaptic plasticity, and, if so, to identify the involved receptors. Our results indicate that (1) the medial cortex exhibits this phenomenon with septal stimulation at 2 Hz, the frequency with maximum power spectral density in the electrocorticogram of turtles, showing an increase in both the excitatory postsynaptic potential and the evoked potential amplitudes; (2) the frequency potentiation of the medial cortex in turtles is mediated by AMPA type glutamate receptors; (3) the dynamics of frequency potentiation development in turtles show a number of differences from that in mammals. In summary, the cortex in this group of reptiles exhibits a functional trait of the cortex in mammals that is related to learning and memory; this trait, frequency potentiation, may have appeared as an independent specialization in both groups.