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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Mar 1.
Published in final edited form as: Prog Neurobiol. 2016 Feb 6;138-140:1–18. doi: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2015.12.006

Fig. 4. Maturation of Granule Cells.

Fig. 4

(a) In the first week after birth neural progenitor cells are distinguished by their irregular shape, immature spikes and synaptic silence. In week two they have migrated into the granule cell layer, developed spineless dendrites and slow GABAergic synaptic inputs. By the third week they start to form afferent connections from the perforant pathway of the entorhinal cortex and efferent connections to the CA3. Also a transition from GABAergic to glutamatergic synaptic inputs takes place. At this stage the developing neurons are highly excitable with high membrane resistance and high resting potential. Finally between weeks four and six these immature neurons exhibit stronger synaptic plasticity than mature dentate granule cells. They have a lower threshold for induction of LTP and higher LTP amplitude.