Selective facilitation of LTP in the ventral hippocampus by calcium stores

Abstract The effects of low concentrations of caffeine and ryanodine on field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) and long‐term potentiation (LTP) were studied in CA1 region of slices of dorsal and ventral hippocampus (DH and VH, respectively). There was a striking difference between the two regions in the magnitude of effect of both drugs, as well as the ability to interact with a tetanic stimulation to produce LTP. Low concentration of caffeine (1 mM) produced a postsynaptic increase in the slope of population EPSPs in VH, and facilitated LTP in this region. Low concentration of ryanodine (0.2 μM) was able to convert short‐term potentiation (STP) to LTP in VH only. These effects are postsynaptic and they reflect a higher concentration of ryanodine receptors (RyRs) in the VH compared to the DH. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.