title: Medial septal unit firing characteristics following injections of 8-OH-DPAT into the median raphe nucleus.
abstract: Extracellular single-unit recording techniques were used to examine the firing characteristics of neurons in the medial septum/diagnol band of Broca complex (MS/DB) following injections of the 5-HT1A agonist, 8-OH-DPAT, into the median raphe nucleus (MRN) of urethane-anesthetized rats. It had previously been shown that MRN injections of 8-OH-DPAT produce hippocampal theta rhythm. Injections of 8-OH-DPAT into the MRN produced a change in firing characteristics of MS/DB neurons from an irregular discharge to a pattern of rhythmical bursting in synchrony with hippocampal theta rhythm. Cross-correlational and coherence analyses demonstrated that the rhythmical firing pattern of MS/DB neurons strongly correlated with rhythmical fluctuations in the hippocampal EEG during periods of hippocampal theta produced by 8-OH-DPAT injections, but not during baseline conditions (i.e. hippocampal desynchronization). The results suggest that MRN control of the hippocampal EEG is modulated by the MS/DB. Serotonergic projections from the MRN to the MS/DB may normally act to inhibit the rhythmical bursting of MS/DB neurons, thereby producing hippocampal desynchronization. Suppression of MRN 5-HT neurons by MRN injections of 8-OH-DPAT would disinhibit MS/DB neurons, allowing them to burst rhythmically and thereby produce hippocampal theta rhythm.
authors.affiliation: Center for Complex Systems, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton 33431, USA.
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Kinney
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kocsis
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Vertes
mesh_terms: D017371:8-Hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000187:drug effects; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008845:Microinjections; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D011903:Raphe Nuclei / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012016:Reference Values; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D017371:8-Hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin