Supplementary Figure 7: Environmental enrichment from birth significantly increased inhibitory synaptic transmission in layer II/III pyramidal neurons of S1 and V1.
From: Oxytocin mediates early experience–dependent cross-modal plasticity in the sensory cortices
(a) Illustration of standard and environmentally enriched (EE) housings. (b,e) Representative mIPSC recordings (left) and average waveforms (right) for conditions as indicated from S1 (b) and V1 (e). (c,d) Environmental enrichment significantly increased mIPSC frequencies in S1 at P14 [c, bar graphs: Ctrl, 1.59 ± 0.23 Hz, EE, 3.90 ± 0.58 Hz, P < 0.001, t(34) = 3.69; cumulative distributions: P < 0.001], without affecting mEPSC amplitudes [d, bar graphs: Ctrl, 30.79 ± 2.06 pA, EE, 28.87 ± 1.62 pA, P = 0.47, t(34) = 0.73; cumulative distributions: P = 0.42]. (f,g) Environmental enrichment significantly increased mIPSC frequencies in V1 at P14 [f, bar graphs: Ctrl, 1.37 ± 0.19 Hz, EE, 2.57 ± 0.28 Hz, P < 0.01, t(21) = 3.68; cumulative distributions: P < 0.001], without affecting mEPSC amplitudes [g, bar graphs: Ctrl, 24.70 ± 1.12 pA, EE, 25.15 ± 1.60 pA, P = 0.82, t(21) = 0.24; cumulative distributions: P = 0.84]. Error bars denote s.e.m.; “n” as denoted inside bar graphs. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, using unpaired two-tailed Student's t-tests for bar graphs and Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-sample tests for cumulative distributions.
