Metabotropic Glutamate Receptors Are Involved in Long-Term Potentiation in Isolated Slices of Rat Medial Frontal Cortex

Vickery, R. M., Shanida H. Morris, and Lynn J. Bindman. Metabotropic glutamate receptors are involved in long-term potentiation in isolated slices of rat medial frontal cortex. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 3039–3046, 1997. The prelimbic region of medial frontal cortex in the rat receives a direct input from the hippocampus and this functional connection is essential for aspects of spatial memory. Activity-dependent changes in the effectiveness of synaptic transmission in the medial frontal cortex, namely long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) can persist for tens of minutes or hours and may be the basis of learning and memory storage. Glutamatergic activation of ionotropic receptors is required to induce both LTP and LTD. We now present evidence of the involvement of metabotropic glutamate receptors in LTP in isolated slices of frontal cortex. Repetitive bursts of stimulation at theta frequencies (TBS) were applied to layer II, and monosynaptic EPSPs were monitored in layer V neurons of the p...