Widespread depression is induced by antidromic stimulation (AS). (A) Recordings in the stratum radiatum demonstrating L-LTP in response to orthodromic stimulation (OS) (182.5 ± 11.0%, P < 0.001), but LTD was induced by AS of axons in the alveus (AS, 53.6 ± 15.3%, P < 0.05). There were no changes in nonstimulated (NS) slices (103.5 ± 5.0%, P = 0.42). (B and C) Antidromic stimulation delivered to the alveus during application of glutamatergic antagonists (dashed vertical bar) induced AP-LTD in stratum radiatum (B, 67.3 ± 3.6%, P < 0.001) and in stratum oriens (C, 64.1 ± 9.2%, P < 0.05). Transient blockade of synaptic transmission had no long-lasting effect on synaptic responses in either stratum radiatum or stratum oriens (99.7 ± 5.9%, P = 0.15 and 96.3 ± 2.3%, P = 0.77, correspondingly). The insets show electrode placement (arrow indicates position of the test stimulation electrode) and representative synaptic responses before (black) and after (gray) repetitive stimulation. (Calibration, 0.5 mV, 5 ms.)