Fig. 1

Effects of simvastatin on hippocampal LTP. a Schematic of hippocampal fEPSP recording. b Representative traces of fEPSPs recorded in CA1 from vehicle- and simvastatin-treated mice following paired-pulse stimulation protocol (interstimulus interval 50 ms). c Average values of paired-pulse ratio in CA1 from vehicle- and simvastatin-treated mice. n = 7 from 3 mice. d Input–output curves constructed from the stimulation intensity vs fEPSP slope in the hippocampus from brain slices of vehicle- and simvastatin-treated mice. Inlet: sample traces for the input output curves. n = 6 from 3 mice. e Left: representative traces of fEPSPs evoked by electrical stimulation of the Schaffer-commissural projection before and after HFS stimulation in mice treated with chronic vehicle or simvastatin (S.C., 30 mg/kg/day, 26 days). Right: time course of fEPSP slope normalized to baseline. The fEPSP slope is plotted as a percentage change against the baseline (0–20 min) before HFS. HFS: high frequency stimulation. HFS is indicated by arrows. f Normalized fEPSP slope values (as a percentage of the baseline) in mice treated with chronic vehicle or simvastatin. n = 6 slices from 3 mice per group. Data are represented as mean ± SEM. **P < 0.01 based on an unpaired t test; ns, not significant (P > 0.05)