Spontaneous episodes of spreading depression (SD) were observed in the CA3 subfield of immature or young (2-30 days postnatally) hippocampal slices perfused with medium containing 4-aminopyridine (4-AP, 50 microM). SD appeared in 34% of the hippocampal slices examined and was more frequently observed in slices obtained from 11 to 20-day-old animals. SD studied with extracellular field potential recordings consisted of large amplitude (18.7 +/- 1.1 mV, mean +/- S.E.M.) negative DC shifts that lasted 30-250 s. Unlike the epileptiform activity that was concomitantly seen during 4-AP application, SD was blocked by the NMDA receptor antagonist 3-((RS)-2-carboxypiperazine-4-yl)-propyl-1-phosphonic acid (CPP, 2-10 microM). In contrast, 6-cyano-7-nitro-quinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX, 5 microM), a non-NMDA-type receptor antagonist, blocked the epileptiform activity but only increased the interval between SD episodes. These results demonstrate that immature hippocampal tissue is susceptible to SD episodes, when perfused with 4-AP-containing medium, and that the occurrence of these episodes presumably depends on the activation of the NMDA receptor. In addition these findings indicate that SD shows a sensitivity to excitatory amino acid receptor antagonists that differs from that of the epileptiform activity recorded simultaneously.