Disrupted Hippocampal Theta-Gamma Coupling and Spike-Field Coherence Following Experimental Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) often results in persistent learning and memory deficits, likely due to disrupted hippocampal circuitry underlying these processes. Precise temporal control of hippocampal neuronal activity is thought to be important for memory encoding and retrieval and is supported by oscillations that dynamically organize single unit firing. Using high-density laminar electrophysiology, we found a loss of oscillatory power across CA1 lamina, with a profound, layer-specific reduction in theta-gamma phase amplitude coupling in injured rats. Interneurons from injured animals were less strongly entrained to theta and gamma oscillations, but both interneurons and pyramidal cells from injured animals became more strongly entrained to theta during periods of high theta power. During quiet immobility, sharp-wave ripple amplitudes were lower in injured animals compared to shams. These results reveal physiological deficits across brain states that may contribute to TBI-associated learning and memory impairments and elucidate potential targets for future neuromodulation therapies.