The Journal of Neurophysiology Vol. 78 No. 6 December 1997, pp. 3323-3337
Copyright ©1997 The American Physiological Society

Electrophysiological Properties of Rat Pontine Nuclei Neurons In Vitro. I. Membrane Potentials and Firing Patterns

Cornelius Schwarz, Martin Möck, and Peter Thier

Sektion für Visuelle Sensomotorik, Neurologische Universitätsklinik Tübingen, 72076 Tubingen, Germany

Schwarz, Cornelius, Martin Möck, and Peter Thier. Electrophysiological properties of rat pontine nuclei neurons in vitro. I. Membrane potentials and firing patterns. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 3323-3337, 1997. We used a new slice preparation of rat brain stem to establish the basic membrane properties of neurons in the pontine nuclei (PN). Using standard intracellular recordings, we found that pontine cells displayed a resting membrane potential of 63 ± 6 mV (mean ± SD), an input resistance of 53 ± 21 M, a membrane time constant of 5.3 ± 2.4 ms and were not spontaneously active. The current-voltage relationship of most of the PN neurons showed the characteristics of inward rectification in both depolarizing and hyperpolarizing directions. A prominent feature of the firing of pontine neurons was a marked firing rate adaptation, which eventually caused the cells to cease firing. Several types of membrane conductances possibly contribute to this feature. For one, a medium and a slow type of afterhyperpolarization (AHP) control the pattern of firing. The medium AHP was partly susceptible to blockade of calcium influx, whereas it was abolished completely by blockade of potassium channels with tetraethylammonium, indicating that it is based on at least two conductances: a calcium-dependent and a calcium-independent one. The slow AHP was carried by potassium ions and could be blocked effectively by preventing calcium influx into the cell. It was present after single spikes but was strongest after a high-frequency spike train. Calcium entry into the cell was mediated by high-threshold calcium channels that were detected by the generation of calcium spikes under blockade of potassium channels. Furthermore, the early phase of the firing rate adaptation was shown to be related to the time course of a slow, tetrodotoxin (TTX)-sensitive, persistent sodium potential, which was activated already in the subthreshold range of membrane potentials. This potential was time dependent and imposed as a depolarizing "hump" with a maximum occurring in most cases between 50 and 100 ms after stimulus onset. In the suprathreshold range, it generated plateau potentials following fast spikes, if potassium channels were blocked. After the complete adaptation of the firing rate, PN neurons were observed to display irregular fluctuations of the membrane potential, which sometimes reached firing threshold thereby eliciting an irregular low-frequency spike train. As these fluctuations could be blocked with TTX, they probably are based on the persistent sodium currents. The opposing drive in hyperpolarizing direction may be provided by strong outward currents that generated a marked outward rectification in the current-voltage relationship under TTX. In conclusion, PN neurons show complex membrane properties that are reminiscent in many ways to cerebrocortical "regular firing" neurons.

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