Classical conditioning of the rabbit eyelid response increases glutamate receptor binding in hippocampal synaptic membranes.

Hippocampal pyramidal neurons exhibit a rapid within-trial increase in firing frequency during classical conditioning of the rabbit eyelid response. It has been proposed that the cellular mechanisms responsible for hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) may also mediate this learning-dependent increase in neuronal activity. The induction of LTP in rat hippocampal slices results in an increase in the number of [3H]glutamate-binding sites in the potentiated region. The present study investigates the kinetics of [3H]glutamate binding to hippocampal synaptic membranes after eyelid conditioning in the rabbit. We report that the regional distribution of [3H]glutamate binding across the layers of rabbit hippocampus is compatible with a dendritic localization. The pharmacological and ionic properties of the binding suggest that it is associated with an excitatory amino acid receptor. After eyelid conditioning, the maximal number of hippocampal [3H]glutamate-binding sites is increased in animals receiving paired presentations of the tone conditioned stimulus and corneal air-puff unconditioned stimulus relative to that found in naive or unpaired control animals. These results strengthen the hypothesis that an LTP-like mechanism underlies the increase in hippocampal firing frequency during rabbit eyelid conditioning.