Fig. 4

Juvenile-like synaptic properties following magnesium treatment. a, d Representative traces of mIPSCs and mEPSCs recorded from layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons in the visual cortex of adult control (Ctl), adult with magnesium treatment, and juvenile (CP; P25-P28, near the peak of the critical period) mice. Scale bars in (a), 50 pA and 1 s. Scale bars in (d), 25 pA and 1 s. b, e The mean frequencies of mIPSCs (b, Ctl, 20 cells in 6 mice; Mg, 20 cells in 6 mice; CP, 23 cells in 4 mice; Using Mann-Whitney U test, P = 0.08 for Ctl vs CP; P = 0.95 for Ctl vs Mg,) and mEPSCs (e, Ctl, 34 cells in 5 mice; Mg, 25 cells in 5 mice; CP, 24 cells in 4 mice; Using Mann-Whitney U test, P = 0.28 for Ctl vs CP; P = 0.03 for Ctl vs Mg). c, f The mean values and cumulative distributions of the amplitudes of mIPSCs (c left; Using Mann-Whitney U test, P = 0.007 for Ctl vs CP; P = 0.086 for Ctl vs Mg) and mEPSCs (f left; Using Mann-Whitney U test, P = 0.19 for Ctl vs CP; P = 0.61 for Ctl vs Mg). Using Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, P = 0.27 for CP vs Mg in (c right); P = 0.004 for CP vs Mg in (f right). g The density of dendritic spines of pyramidal neurons in layer 2/3 in Ctl (136 cells in 12 mice), Mg (80 cells in 10 mice) and CP (158 cells in 9 mice) group. Scale bar, 10 μm. P < 0.01 using a one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test.*P < 0.05; **P < 0.01. Error bars, SEM