Inhibition dominates in shaping spontaneous CA3 hippocampal network activities in vitro

We have assessed the balance of excitation and inhibition in in vitro rodent hippocampal slices exhibiting spontaneous, basal sharp waves (bSPWs). A defining signature of a network exhibiting bSPWs is the rise and fall in local field activities with frequencies ranging from 0.5 to 4.5 Hz. This variation of extracellular local field activities manifests at the intracellular level as postsynaptic potentials (PSPs). In correspondence with the local field bSPWs, we consider “sparse” and “synchronous” parts of bSPWs at the intracellular level. We have used intracellular data of bSPW‐associated PSPs together with mathematical extraction techniques to quantify the mean and variance of synaptic conductances that a neuron experiences during bSPW episodes. We find that inhibitory conductances dominate in pyramidal cells and in a putative interneuron, and that inhibitory variances are much greater than excitatory ones during synchronous parts of bSPWs. Specifically, we find that there is at least a twofold increase in inhibitory conductance dominance from “sparse” to “synchronous” bSPW states and that this transition is associated with inhibitory fluctuations of greater than 10% of the change in mean inhibitory conductance. On the basis of our findings, we suggest that such inhibitory fluctuations during transition may be a physiological feature of systems expressing such population activities. In summary, our results provide a quantified basis for understanding the interaction of excitatory and inhibitory neuronal subpopulations in bSPW activities. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.