Ln vitro Cortical Network Firing is Homeostatically Regulated : A Model for Sleep Regulation - News

ln vitro Cortical Network Firing is Homeostatically Regulated : A Model for Sleep Regulation. Sohrab Saberi-Moghadam, Alessandro Simi, Hesam Setareh, Cyril Mikhail & Mehdi Tafti Prolonged wakefulness leads to a homeostatic response manifested in increased amplitude and number of electroencephalogram (EEG) slow waves during recovery sleep. Cortical networks show a slow oscillation when the excitatory inputs are reduced (during slow wave sleep, anesthesia), or absent (in vitro preparations). It was recently shown that a homeostatic response to electrical stimulation can be induced in cortical cultures. Here we used cortical cultures grown on microelectrode arrays and stimulated them with a cocktail of waking neuromodulators. We found that recovery from stimulation resulted in a dose-dependent homeostatic response. Specifically, the inter-burst intervals decreased, the burst duration increased, the network showed higher cross-correlation and strong phasic synchronized burst activity.