Pretreatment with β-adrenergic receptor agonists facilitates induction of LTP and sharp wave ripple complexes in rodent hippocampus

ABSTRACT Norepinephrine, is involved in the enhancement of learning and memory formation by regulating synaptic mechanisms through its ability to activate pre‐ and post‐synaptic adrenergic receptors. Here we show that β‐agonists of norepinephrine facilitate the induction of both associational LTP and sharp wave ripples (SPW‐Rs) in acute slices of rat hippocampus in area CA3. Surprisingly, this facilitating effect persists when slices are only pretreated with β‐receptor agonists followed by wash out and application of the unspecific β‐adrenoreceptor (βAR) antagonist propranolol. During application of βAR agonists repeated stimulation resulted in facilitated induction of SPW‐Rs. Since SPW‐Rs are thought to be involved in memory replay we studied the effects of βAR‐agonists on spontaneous SPW‐Rs in murine hippocampus and found that amplitude and incidence of SPW‐Rs increased. These effects involve cyclic‐AMP and the activation of protein kinase A and suggest a supportive role in memory consolidation. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.