Temporal requirements of associative short-term potentiation in CA1 neurons of rat hippocampus.

Temporal separation and juxtaposition of stimulations for the induction of associative short-term potentiation in the rat hippocampus were examined. A series of stimulations of stratum radiatum during brief tetanic stimulations of stratum oriens resulted in a short-term potentiation (of about 3 min duration) of stratum radiatum-induced CA1 population excitatory postsynaptic potential. Potentiation was evident when the stratum radiatum stimulus preceded the onset of the conditioning tetanus by no more than 50 ms, or followed by no more than 80 ms. These parameters closely resemble those found for associative long-term potentiation, suggesting the possibility of shared mechanisms for the induction of these two forms of potentiation.