Slow wave field potentials in the rat brain during the estrous cycle.
Twenty-one rats were implanted with chronic electrodes in the amygdala, preoptic area, and arcuate nucleus-median eminence region in an effort to learn more about electrical activity in the limbic system and the relationship to the estrous cycle. Slow wave field potentials from these three areas were recorded for ten minutes of each half-hour between 10:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. each day of the four-day estrous cycle. These recordings were analyzed for amount of correlation and direction of conduction between pairs of electrodes and for conduction times between pairs of sites. Slow wave field potential conduction from the amygdala to the preoptic area during the "critical period" on the day of proestrus lasts longer and takes longer en route than at other times of the cycle. This is statistically significant at p < 0.002 and implies a change in the conducting pathway during this time.
D000200:Action Potentials; D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D004971:Estrus; D005260:Female; D007033:Hypothalamus, Middle / Q000502:physiology; D008473:Median Eminence / Q000502:physiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011301:Preoptic Area / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats