JN Information on EB 2010
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

J Neurophysiol 102: 3026-3037, 2009. First published August 26, 2009; doi:10.1152/jn.00507.2009
0022-3077/09 $8.00
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplemental Figures
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
102/5/3026    most recent
00507.2009v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ranade, S. P.
Right arrow Articles by Mainen, Z. F.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ranade, S. P.
Right arrow Articles by Mainen, Z. F.

RESEARCH-ARTICLE

Transient Firing of Dorsal Raphe Neurons Encodes Diverse and Specific Sensory, Motor, and Reward Events

Sachin P. Ranade1 and Zachary F. Mainen1,2

1Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York; and 2Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal

Submitted 10 June 2009; accepted in final form 25 August 2009

ABSTRACT

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT]) is known to influence a wide range of behaviors and physiological processes, but relatively little is known about events that trigger 5-HT release. To address this issue, we recorded from neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) in rats performing an odor-guided spatial decision task. A large fraction of DRN neurons showed transient firing time locked to behavioral events on timescales as little as 20 ms. DRN transients were sometimes correlated with reward parameters, but also encoded specific sensorimotor events, including stimulus identity and response direction. These behavioral correlates were diverse but showed no apparent relationship with waveform or other firing properties indicative of neurochemical identity. These results suggest that the 5-HT system does not encode a unitary signal and that it will broadcast specific information to the forebrain with speed and precision sufficient not only to modulate but also to dynamically sculpt ongoing information processing.

Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: Z. F. Mainen, Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal P-2781-901 (E-mail: zmainen{at}igc.gulbenkian.pt).






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Visit Other APS Journals Online
Copyright © 2009 by the The American Physiological Society.