Spike timing of lacunosom-moleculare targeting interneurons and CA3 pyramidal cells during high-frequency network oscillations in vitro.

Network activity in the 200- to 600-Hz range termed high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) has been detected in epileptic tissue from both humans and rodents and may underlie the mechanism of epileptogenesis in experimental rodent models. Slower network oscillations including theta and gamma oscillations as well as ripples are generated by the complex spike timing and interactions between interneurons and pyramidal cells of the hippocampus. We determined the activity of CA3 pyramidal cells, stratum oriens lacunosum-moleculare (O-LM) and s. radiatum lacunosum-moleculare (R-LM) interneurons during HFO in the in vitro low-Mg(2+) model of epileptiform activity in GIN mice. In these animals, interneurons can be identified prior to cell-attached recordings by the expression of green-fluorescent protein (GFP). Simultaneous local field potential recordings from s. pyramidale and on-cell recordings of individual interneurons and principal cells revealed three primary firing behaviors of the active cells: 36% of O-LM interneurons and 60% of pyramidal cells fired action potentials at high frequencies during the HFO. R-LM interneurons were biphasic in that they fired at high frequency at the beginning of the HFO but stopped firing before its end. When considering only the highest frequency component of the oscillations most pyramidal cells fired on the rising phase of the oscillation. These data provide evidence for functional distinction during HFOs within otherwise homogeneous groups of O-LM interneurons and pyramidal cells.