Field responses to perforant path stimulation in the rat dentate gyrus: role of corticosterone and NMDA-receptor activation

Recent studies showed that corticosterone and NMDA receptor activation supp ress cell turn-over in the dentate gyrus through a common pathway, the NMDA receptor acting downstream of the corticosteroids. The present data show t hat in the absence of corticosteroids but not of NMDA receptor activation s ynaptic responses of dentate cells are reduced. The reduced synaptic respon siveness in the absence of corticosterone is therefore probably not caused by changes in cell turn-over. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights res erved.