Figure 7.

Voluntary Running Restores Neuronal Activity in VPA-Treated Mice

(A) Representative pseudocolor activity map images of brain slices including the hippocampus show that voluntary running can only recover the impairment of GABA_A receptor-mediated inhibition in the mossy fiber pathway (msy) of VPA-treated mice, after treatment with the GABA_A receptor channel antagonist picrotoxin (PITX) (n = 6 for MC, n = 9 for MC + RW, n = 7 for VPA, n = 8 for VPA + RW). Electrical stimulation was applied to Schaffer collateral afferents at the CA3/CA1 border of CA1 (sch); to the granule cell layer to stimulate the mossy fiber pathway (msy); and to the molecular layer of the upper blade in the DG (pp).

(B) Quantification of the neural response in artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF), with (black bars) or without PITX (white bars; n = 6 for MC, n = 9 for MC + RW, n = 7 for VPA, n = 8 for VPA + RW). Note that although the augmentation of the neural response caused by GABA_A receptor-mediated inhibition with PITX application seen in sch and msy was abolished in VPA-treated mice, voluntary running could restore the augmentation only in the msy.

MC, prenatal methylcellulose (vehicle); MC + RW, prenatal methylcellulose and postnatal running; VPA, prenatal valproic acid; VPA + RW, prenatal valproic acid and postnatal running. Data are represented as means. Error bars indicate the SD. ^∗p < 0.05, ^∗∗∗p < 0.001, two-tailed t test.