TY - JOUR T1 - Electrophysiological Signature Reveals Laminar Structure of the Porcine Hippocampus JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/201285 SP - 201285 AU - Alexandra V. Ulyanova AU - Paul F. Koch AU - Carlo Cottone AU - Michael R. Grovola AU - Christopher D. Adam AU - Kevin D. Browne AU - Maura T. Weber AU - Robin J. Russo AU - Kimberly G. Gagnon AU - Douglas H. Smith AU - H. Isaac Chen AU - Victoria E. Johnson AU - D. Kacy Cullen AU - John A. Wolf Y1 - 2018/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/08/26/201285.abstract N2 - The hippocampus is integral to working and episodic memory, and is a central region of interest in diseases affecting these processes. Pig models are widely used in translational research, and may provide an excellent bridge between rodents and non-human primates for CNS disease models due to their gyrencephalic neuroanatomy and significant white matter composition. However, the laminar structure of the pig hippocampus has not been well characterized. Therefore, we histologically characterized the dorsal hippocampus of Yucatan miniature pigs and quantified the cytoarchitecture of the hippocampal layers. We then utilized stereotaxis combined with single unit electrophysiological mapping to precisely place multichannel laminar silicon probes into the dorsal hippocampus without the need for image guidance. We used in vivo electrophysiological recordings of simultaneous laminar field potentials and single unit activity in multiple layers of the dorsal hippocampus to physiologically identify and quantify these layers under anesthesia. Consistent with previous reports, we found the porcine hippocampus to have the expected archicortical laminar structure with some anatomical and histological features comparable to the rodent and others to the primate hippocampus. Importantly, we found these distinct features to be reflected in the laminar electrophysiology. This characterization, as well as our electrophysiology-based methodology targeting the porcine hippocampal lamina combined with high channel count silicon probes will allow for analysis of spike-field interactions during normal and disease states in both anesthetized and future awake behaving neurophysiology in this large animal.Significance Statement The hippocampus is central to working and episodic memory and is critically affected by diverse disease processes. In order to investigate hippocampal electrophysiology in translational large animal models, we developed an imaging-free stereotaxis and intraoperative electrophysiology methodology with custom silicon probes to precisely localize probe placement within the hippocampal laminar structure. We report for the first time the profile of single units and local field potentials in the pig dorsal hippocampus and relate them to a histological description. This characterization forms the basis for accessible translational pig models to study diseases of the central nervous system affecting hippocampal circuitry in the large animal gyrencephalic brain, as well as the groundwork for potential awake behaving neurophysiology of the porcine hippocampus.Funding Sources The Department of Veterans Affairs, IK2-RX001479, I01-RX001097. The National Institutes of Health, NINDS R01-NS-101108-01, T32-NS043126. CURE Foundation, Taking Flight Award. DoD ERP CDMRP, W81XWH-16-1-0675. ER -