The hippocampal formation (comprising the hippocampus proper, the dentate gyrus, and the subiculum) has been repeatedly implicated in information storage models of the mammalian brain. The precise nature of the hippocampal role in the storage of information has, however, remained elusive. Here it is proposed that the role of the hippocampus is to form and retain an index of neocortical areas activated by experiential events. The hippocampal index, thus, represents those unique cortical regions activated by specific events. The neuronal mechanism underlying the memory index is hypothesized to be long-term potentiation. It is asserted that the reactivation of the stored hippocampal memory index will serve to also reactivate the associated unique array of neocortical areas and thus will result in a memorial experience. This hippocampal reactivation of a neocortical array may also be involved in establishing a cortically based memory trace.

Long-term potentiation (LTP) of excitatory synaptic transmission could be a mechanism underlying memory. Induction of LTP requires Ca2+ influx into postsynaptic neurons through ion channels gated by NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors in hippocampus (area CA1 and dentate gyrus) and neocortex. Here we report that a component of LTP not requiring the activation of NMDA receptors can be induced in area CA1. The component is dependent on tetanus frequency, requires increases in postsynaptic intracellular Ca2+ concentrations, and is suppressed by an antagonist of voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels.

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is a candidate synaptic mechanism underlying learning and memory that has been studied extensively at the cellular and molecular level in laboratory animals. To date, LTP has only been directly demonstrated in humans in isolated cortical tissue obtained from patients undergoing surgery, where it displays properties identical to those seen in non-human preparations. Inquiry into the functional significance of LTP has been hindered by the absence of a human model. Here we give the first demonstration that the rapid repetitive presentation of a visual checkerboard (a photic 'tetanus') leads to a persistent enhancement of one of the early components of the visual evoked potential in normal humans. The potentiated response is largest in the hemisphere contralateral to the tetanized visual hemifield and is limited to one component of the visual evoked response (the N1b). The selective potentiation of only the N1b component makes overall brain excitability changes unlikely and suggests that the effect is due instead to an LTP process. While LTP is known to exist in the human brain, the ability to elicit LTP from non-surgical patients will provide a human model system allowing the detailed examination of synaptic plasticity in normal subjects and may have future clinical applications in the assessment of cognitive disorders.

A little over 20 years ago, (Teyler and DiScenna,1986; Behav Neurosci 100:147-152) proposed the hippocampal memory index theory. It offered an account of episodic memory based on the intrinsic organization of the hippocampus, its synaptic physiology and its anatomical relationship to other regions of the brain. The essence of their idea was that the hippocampus was functionally designed and anatomically situated to capture information about neocortical activity generated by the individual features of behavioral episode. Moreover, because the hippocampus projects back to these neocortical regions the information it stored could serve as an index to the pattern of neocortical activity produced by the episode. Consequently, a partial cue that activated the index could activate the neocortical patterns and thus retrieve the memory of the episode. In this article we revisit and update indexing theory. Our conclusion is that it has aged very well. Its core ideas can be seen in many contemporary theories and there is a wealth of data that support this conceptual framework.

Long-term potentiation (LTP) of the Schaffer collateral/commissural inputs to CA1 in the hippocampus was shown to consist of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) and voltage-dependent calcium channel (VDCC) dependent forms. In this study, the relative contributions of these two forms of LTP in in vitro hippocampal slices from young (2 mo) and old (24 mo) Fischer 344 rats were examined. Excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSP) were recorded extracellularly from stratum radiatum before and after a tetanic stimulus consisting of four 200-Hz, 0.5-s trains given 5 s apart. Under control conditions, a compound LTP consisting of both forms was induced and was similar, in both time course and magnitude, in young and old animals. NMDAR-dependent LTP (nmdaLTP), isolated by the application of 10 microM nifedipine (a voltage-dependent calcium channel blocker), was significantly reduced in magnitude in aged animals. The VDCC dependent form (vdccLTP), isolated by the application of 50 microM D,L-2-amino-5-phosphonvalerate (APV), was significantly larger in aged animals. Although both LTP forms reached stable values 40-60 min posttetanus in young animals, in aged animals vdccLTP increased and nmdaLTP decreased during this time. In both young and old animals, the sum of the two isolated LTP forms approximated the magnitude of the compound LTP, and application of APV and nifedipine or genestein (a tyrosine kinase inhibitor) together blocked potentiation. These results suggest that aging causes a shift in synaptic plasticity from NMDAR-dependent mechanisms to VDCC-dependent mechanisms. The data are consistent with previous findings of increased L-type calcium current and decreased NMDAR number in aged CA1 cells and may help explain age-related deficits in learning and memory.

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1. The effects of protein kinase inhibitors on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-receptor-mediated, voltage-dependent calcium channel (VDCC)-mediated, and 100-Hz long-term potentiation (LTP) were studied in area CA1 of rat hippocampal slices. 2. A 25-Hz tetanus induced a quickly developing potentiation that was blocked by the NMDA antagonist D,L-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid (APV) and was not affected by the L-type VDCC inhibitor nifedipine, suggesting that it was mediated by NMDA receptors (NMDA-LTP). 3. Application of a 200-Hz tetanus in APV induced a slowly developing NMDA-receptor-independent potentiation that was blocked by nifedipine and thus named VDCC-LTP. NMDA- and VDCC-LTP reached comparable magnitudes despite their different induction parameters and developmental kinetics. 4. Bath perfusion of the broad-spectrum serine/threonine kinase inhibitor 1-(5-isoquinolinylsulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H-7) blocked NMDA-LTP but not VDCC-LTP, whereas the tyrosine kinase inhibitors genistein and lavendustin A blocked VDCC-LTP but not NMDA-LTP. These results suggest a differential involvement of H-7-sensitive serine/threonine kinases and tyrosine kinases in the two forms of LTP. 5. Tetanization of 200 Hz in control media resulted in a compound potentiation twice as large as NMDA- or VDCC-LTP, implying that the two forms of LTP did not facilitate or reduce each other's expression. The often-used 100-Hz tetanus (1 s twice) induced a potentiation that was comparable in size with the 200-Hz compound LTP. Nifedipine, genistein, and lavendustin A reduced the 100-Hz LTP by approximately 50%, suggesting that this LTP is also a compound potentiation consisting of NMDA- and VDCC-mediated components and their corresponding signal transduction pathways.

Electrophysiological field potentials from hippocampal slices of rat brain show sex-linked differences in response to 1 X 10(-10)M concentrations of estradiol and testosterone added to the incubation medium. Slices from male rats show increased excitability to estradiol and not to testosterone. Slices from female rats are not affected by estradiol, but slices from female rats in diestrus show increased excitability in response to testosterone whereas slices from females in proestrus show decreased excitability.