Fig. 1

Afh/Afh primary neuronal networks show electrophysiological abnormalities. a Scheme of the in vitro treatment protocol carried out for gene expression and electrophysiological analyses using chronic treatment with 100 nM Dexa at different time points. The right panels show a 60-channel microelectrode array with a typical recorded trace. b (Left) Mean firing rate (MFR) of +/+ cultures recorded without stimulation (light blue line, n = 5; DIV = 22 ± 3) and after stimulation (blue line, n = 5; DIV = 25 ± 3). (Right) MFR of Afh/Afh cultures without stimulation (light red line, n = 5; DIV = 21 ± 3) and after stimulation (red line, n = 5; DIV = 22 ± 3). c Box plot of MFR for +/+ neuronal networks without treatment (light blue) and with treatment (blue) and for Afh/Afh neuronal networks without treatment (light red) and with treatment (red). The bold lines and shaded regions correspond to the mean ± SEM. d Spike trains from three different channels: the dashed windows indicate network bursts (NBs). For each NB, the channel exhibiting the first detected event was named the major burst leader (red trace), while the others (blue) were the followers. e Box plot indicating the normalized variation of the dispersion of delays calculated as the difference between the delay of the first and the last followers for +/+ neuronal networks without treatment (light blue) and with treatment (blue) and for Afh/Afh neuronal networks without treatment (light red) and with treatment (red). f Coincidence index (CI0, ± 3 ms) for +/+ neuronal networks without treatment (light blue) and with treatment (blue) and for Afh/Afh neuronal networks without treatment (light red) and with treatment (red). White arrow indicates moments of Dexa administration. g Box plot of CI0 for the +/+ and Afh/Afh neuronal networks without treatment (light blue line and light red line, respectively) and with treatment (blue line and red line, respectively). For each box plot, the small square indicates the mean, the central line illustrates the median, and the box limits indicate the 25th and 75th percentiles. The whiskers represent the 5th and 95th percentiles: * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01. Statistical analysis was performed using two-way ANOVA with Tukey post-test