We investigated whether functional changes occur with incomplete cerebral ischemia which do not lead to neural cell death. If functional changes are recognized, it is necessary to clarify whether they occur immediately after ischemia or after a lag of a few days similar to the pathological changes. Long-term potentiation (LTP) in both the Schaffer collateral-CA1 and the perforant path-dentate gyrus synapses in halothane-anesthetized rats were examined 1 day and 4 days after 10 min clamping of the bilateral common carotid arteries. LTP was substantially attenuated after clamping of the bilateral common carotid arteries. In Schaffer-CA1 synapses, the inhibition of LTP was significant on both the 1 day and 4 days after-clamping group. In perforant path-dentate gyrus synapses, LTP was significantly inhibited on only the 4 days after-clamping group. These results suggest that functional damages may occur with incomplete ischemia without any histological damages. In the 1 day after-clamping group, LTP was reduced, but the changes in LTP differed from the inhibition of the 4 days after-clamping group. Therefore, a so-called delayed dysfunction might exist in the hippocampal neurons, despite absence of pathological changes.
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