Inhibition of thalamic ventrobasal complex neurons by glutamate infusion into the thalamic reticular nucleus in rats.
In urethane-anesthetized rats a 0.36-mm metallic cannula for infusion was positioned in the somatosensory component of the thalamic reticular nucleus (sTR), where movement of the vibrissae evoked neuronal discharge. Infusion there of 0.125-0.5 microliter of a 50 mM solution of glutamate over a 1-min period suppressed both spontaneous and evoked discharge of neurons in the ventrobasal complex (VB), but only for those which also responded to vibrissal stimulation. VB neurons activated by somatosensory stimuli at other locations were unaffected. Thus, excitation of neurons in sTR inhibits those in VB, but the effect appears to be highly coordinated somatotopically.
D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003864:Depression, Chemical; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D005971:Glutamates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013787:Thalamic Nuclei / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D014738:Vibrissae / Q000502:physiology*
D005971:Glutamates; D018698:Glutamic Acid