Developmental expression of endogenous oscillations and waves in the auditory cortex involves calcium, gap junctions, and GABA

Neuronal oscillations and population waves (OWs) may be important for the maturation of neural circuits in the cortex and other developing areas of the CNS. We examined endogenous network activity by whole-cell and paired extracellular recordings in the thalamorecipient auditory cortex (ACx) in slices of gerbil pups during the first three postnatal weeks. Separately, we examined network ensemble correlates of the OWs using population intracellular free calcium (Ca2+) imaging in slices bulk-loaded with fura-2 AM. In slices devoid of physiological or pharmacological manipulations, spontaneous multi-neuronal bursts recorded extracellularly at the perirhinal cortex precede bursts simultaneously recorded at the ACx, suggesting their caudorostral propagation. OWs waned after postnatal day (P) 7, ceased following hearing onset (P12), and accompanied altered membrane properties. Population imaging from P2–5 slices with fura-2 AM revealed endogenously generated waves that spread from the perirhinal cortex toward the thalamorecipient ACx. Wave incidence varied between 5 waves/min to 0.4 waves/min. OWs were disrupted by treatment of slices with [Ca2+]i chelator 1,2-bis(o-aminophenoxy)ethane-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid, the gap junction blocker mefloquine or the GABAA receptor blocker bicuculline. These results suggest that propagating activity involving calcium, gap junctions and GABAergic transmission exists in the gerbil ACx and it correlates with key developmental events in vivo. We speculate such activity may be integral to postnatal maturation of ACx.