Kainate-induced network activity in the anterior cingulate cortex

• Network activity (NA) was induced by kainate in mouse ACC using submerged slice.
• NA was more robust in the superficial layer than in the deep layer.
• TTX, blockers of glutamate or GABAA receptors and gap junction greatly diminished NA.

Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) plays a pivotal role in higher order processing of cognition, attention and emotion. The network oscillation is considered an essential means for integration of these CNS functions. The oscillation power and coherence among related areas are often dis-regulated in several psychiatric and pathological conditions with a hemispheric asymmetric manner. Here we describe the network-based activity of field potentials recorded from the superficial layer of the mouse ACC in vitro using submerged type recordings. A short activation by kainic acid administration to the preparation induced populational activities ranging over several frequency bands including theta (3–8 Hz), alpha (8–12 Hz), beta (13–30 Hz), low gamma (30–50 Hz) and high gamma (50–80 Hz). These responses were repeatable and totally abolished by tetrodotoxin, and greatly diminished by inhibitors of ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors, GABAA receptor or gap-junctions. These observations suggest that the kainate-induced network activity can be a useful model of the network oscillation in the ACC circuit.