Ch is placed underneath a grid and, therefore, cannot be removed by the animals. In addition, each cylinder is flavored with vanilla essence (dissolved in water 0.02 ; Micro-Plus, Stadtoldendorf, Germany), as mice are attracted to this flavor. Three of the ten 10236-47-2 cylinders are marked with white tape and in these, another piece of almond is placed on top of the grid as a food reward, which can be reached by the animals. The positions of these marked and baited cylindersElectrophysiologySagittal hippocampal brain slices (350 mm thick) were obtained from mice 24 h after anesthesia or sham treatment. After killing an animal by cervical dislocation, the brain was rapidly removed and slices were prepared in ice-cold artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) using a vibroslicer (HM 650 V, Microm International, Walldorf, Germany). Slices were allowed to recover for at least 1 h before being transferred to the recording chamber which was continuously perfused with ACSF at a rate of 5 ml/min. The ACSF contained (in mM): NaCl, 125; KCl, 2.5; NaHCO3, 25; CaCl2, 2; MgCl2, 1; D-glucose, 25; NaH2PO4, 1.25 (all substances from Sigma, Deisenhofen, Germany). Saturation with a mixture of 95 O2/5 CO2 (carbogen gas) led to a pH of 7.4. All experiments were performed at room temperature (22?4uC). Extracellular recordings of field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) were performed in the CA1 stratum radiatum of the hippocampus using borosilicate glass micropipettes (1? MV) filled with ACSF. Data were recorded with an Axopatch 200B patchclamp amplifier, a Digidata 1200 18204824 interface (both from AxonSevoflurane Anesthesia and Learning and MemoryInstruments, Foster City, CA), and the LTP Program 2.30d software [31]. fEPSPs were evoked by electrical stimulation of the Schaffer collateral/associational commissural pathway with a 374913-63-0 site bipolar tungsten electrode insulated to the tip (50 mm tip diameter). Stimuli were delivered at 30 s intervals, and two consecutive fEPSPs were averaged for noise minimization. The initial slope of the rising phase of the fEPSP (taken between 20 and 80 of the peak amplitude) was used as measure of the strength of synaptic transmission. For baseline recordings, stimulation intensity was set to a value that evoked a response approximately 25?0 of the maximal inducible response. After a minimum of 30 min of stable baseline recordings, a high frequency stimulus (HFS; 100 pulses delivered at 100 Hz) was applied to the Schaffer collateral/ associational commissural pathway. After HFS, recordings were made for 40 min without changing the rate or intensity of the stimulus, and fEPSP slopes were normalized with respect to the responses recorded during the last 5 min before HFS. LTP, quantified as percental elevation of fEPSP slopes 36?0 min after HFS, was compared between brain slices of mice that underwent sevoflurane anesthesia or sham treatment.Statistical AnalysisStatistics were performed using SPSS 14.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). A two-tailed probability value of P,0.05 was considered as statistically significant. For analysis of cognitive and behavioral parameters, the data was assessed in a one- or twofactor ANOVA, respectively. Statistical analysis for electrophysiology was carried out using the Student’s t-test with a level of P,0.05 required for significance. Averaged 1676428 values are given as mean 6 SEM. Western blot data were proven for significance by comparing the grey values of the anesthetized and non-anesthetized group of eac.Ch is placed underneath a grid and, therefore, cannot be removed by the animals. In addition, each cylinder is flavored with vanilla essence (dissolved in water 0.02 ; Micro-Plus, Stadtoldendorf, Germany), as mice are attracted to this flavor. Three of the ten cylinders are marked with white tape and in these, another piece of almond is placed on top of the grid as a food reward, which can be reached by the animals. The positions of these marked and baited cylindersElectrophysiologySagittal hippocampal brain slices (350 mm thick) were obtained from mice 24 h after anesthesia or sham treatment. After killing an animal by cervical dislocation, the brain was rapidly removed and slices were prepared in ice-cold artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) using a vibroslicer (HM 650 V, Microm International, Walldorf, Germany). Slices were allowed to recover for at least 1 h before being transferred to the recording chamber which was continuously perfused with ACSF at a rate of 5 ml/min. The ACSF contained (in mM): NaCl, 125; KCl, 2.5; NaHCO3, 25; CaCl2, 2; MgCl2, 1; D-glucose, 25; NaH2PO4, 1.25 (all substances from Sigma, Deisenhofen, Germany). Saturation with a mixture of 95 O2/5 CO2 (carbogen gas) led to a pH of 7.4. All experiments were performed at room temperature (22?4uC). Extracellular recordings of field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) were performed in the CA1 stratum radiatum of the hippocampus using borosilicate glass micropipettes (1? MV) filled with ACSF. Data were recorded with an Axopatch 200B patchclamp amplifier, a Digidata 1200 18204824 interface (both from AxonSevoflurane Anesthesia and Learning and MemoryInstruments, Foster City, CA), and the LTP Program 2.30d software [31]. fEPSPs were evoked by electrical stimulation of the Schaffer collateral/associational commissural pathway with a bipolar tungsten electrode insulated to the tip (50 mm tip diameter). Stimuli were delivered at 30 s intervals, and two consecutive fEPSPs were averaged for noise minimization. The initial slope of the rising phase of the fEPSP (taken between 20 and 80 of the peak amplitude) was used as measure of the strength of synaptic transmission. For baseline recordings, stimulation intensity was set to a value that evoked a response approximately 25?0 of the maximal inducible response. After a minimum of 30 min of stable baseline recordings, a high frequency stimulus (HFS; 100 pulses delivered at 100 Hz) was applied to the Schaffer collateral/ associational commissural pathway. After HFS, recordings were made for 40 min without changing the rate or intensity of the stimulus, and fEPSP slopes were normalized with respect to the responses recorded during the last 5 min before HFS. LTP, quantified as percental elevation of fEPSP slopes 36?0 min after HFS, was compared between brain slices of mice that underwent sevoflurane anesthesia or sham treatment.Statistical AnalysisStatistics were performed using SPSS 14.0 for Windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL). A two-tailed probability value of P,0.05 was considered as statistically significant. For analysis of cognitive and behavioral parameters, the data was assessed in a one- or twofactor ANOVA, respectively. Statistical analysis for electrophysiology was carried out using the Student’s t-test with a level of P,0.05 required for significance. Averaged 1676428 values are given as mean 6 SEM. Western blot data were proven for significance by comparing the grey values of the anesthetized and non-anesthetized group of eac.