Objective The study investigated whether the directionality of neural information flow (NIF) could be used to characterize the synaptic plasticity on thalamocortical (TC) pathway, and examined which oscillatory frequency band reveals the most in the cognitive deficiency caused by depression.Methods EMA (Evolution map approach) and IM algorithms were used to determine the direction of NIF between the thalamus and prefrontal cortex in five frequency bands, which are delta (0.5-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-13 Hz), beta (13-30 Hz) and gamma (30-40 Hz).Meanwhile, the experiment was performed by inducing long-term potentiation of TC pathway after recording local field potential.Results The data presented that the energies were increased in delta and theta bands, and the synchronization between these two regions was decreased in theta band in Str group compared to that in control group.The coupling direction index d and the unidirectional influence TC c2 were significantly decreased in stressed state at theta rhythm in the rats of CUS model.Additionally, the field LTP data presented that chronic stress decreased medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) synaptic plasticity, which was certainly in line with the LFP findings.Moreover, the decreased SampEn only in mPFC implied that there was a significant role of mPFC (the recipient region) in the information transmission though TC pathway.Conclusion The results suggest that the directionality index of NIF in physiological oscillatory bands could be as a measure of synaptic plasticity.