Transient effect of mossy fiber stimulation on spatial firing of CA3 neurons

Abstract

Strong hippocampal mossy fiber synapses are thought to function as detonators, imposing teaching signals onto CA3 neurons during new memory formation. For an empirical test of this long-standing view, we examined effects of stimulating mossy fibers on spatial firing of CA3 neurons in freely-moving mice. We found that optogenetic stimulation of mossy fibers can alter CA3 spatial firing, but their effects are only transient. Spatially restricted mossy fiber stimulation, either congruent or incongruent with CA3 place fields, was more likely to suppress than enhance CA3 neuronal activity. Also, changes in spatial firing induced by optogenetic stimulation reverted immediately upon stimulation termination, leaving CA3 place fields unaltered. Our results do not support the traditional view that mossy fibers impose teaching signals onto CA3 network, and show robustness of established CA3 spatial representations.