Objective. Neural stem cells (NSCs) are continuously produced throughout life in the hippocampus, which is a vital structure for learning and memory. NSCs in the brain incorporate into the functional hippocampal circuits and contribute to processing information. However, little is known about the mechanisms of NSCs’ activity in a pre-existing neuronal network. Here, we investigate the role of NSCs in the neuronal activity of a pre-existing hippocampal in vitro network grown on microelectrode arrays. Approach. We assessed the change in internal dynamics of the network by additional NSCs based on spontaneous activity. We also evaluated the networks’ ability to discriminate between different input patterns by measuring evoked activity in response to external inputs. Main results. Analysis of spontaneous activity revealed that additional NSCs prolonged network bursts with longer intervals, generated a lower number of initiating patterns, and decreased synchronization among neurons. Moreover, the network with NSCs showed higher synchronicity in close connections among neurons responding to external inputs and a larger difference in spike counts and cross-correlations during evoked response between two different inputs. Taken together, our results suggested that NSCs alter the internal dynamics of the pre-existing hippocampal network and produce more specific responses to external inputs, thus enhancing the ability of the network to differentiate two different inputs. Significance. We demonstrated that NSCs improve the ability to distinguish external inputs by modulating the internal dynamics of a pre-existing network in a hippocampal culture. Our results provide novel insights into the relationship between NSCs and learning and memory.

客观的。神经干细胞 (NSC) 在整个生命过程中在海马体中不断产生，海马体是学习和记忆的重要结构。大脑中的神经干细胞融入功能性海马回路并有助于处理信息。然而，关于神经干细胞在预先存在的神经元网络中的活动机制知之甚少。在这里，我们研究了神经干细胞在微电极阵列上生长的预先存在的海马体外网络的神经元活动中的作用。方法。我们通过基于自发活动的额外 NSC 评估了网络内部动态的变化。我们还通过测量响应外部输入的诱发活动来评估网络区分不同输入模式的能力。主要结果。对自发活动的分析表明，额外的神经干细胞以更长的间隔延长了网络爆发，产生了较少数量的启动模式，并减少了神经元之间的同步。此外，具有 NSC 的网络在响应外部输入的神经元之间的紧密连接中表现出更高的同步性，并且在两个不同输入之间的诱发响应期间，尖峰计数和互相关的差异更大。总之，我们的结果表明 NSC 改变了预先存在的海马网络的内部动态，并对外部输入产生了更具体的反应，从而增强了网络区分两种不同输入的能力。意义。我们证明了 NSC 通过调节海马文化中预先存在的网络的内部动态来提高区分外部输入的能力。我们的研究结果为 NSC 与学习和记忆之间的关系提供了新的见解。