HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 98/3/1697    most recent 00057.2007v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (3) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bengtsson, F. Articles by Jörntell, H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bengtsson, F. Articles by Jörntell, H.

Ketamine and Xylazine Depress Sensory-Evoked Parallel Fiber and Climbing Fiber Responses

Department of Experimental Medical Science, Section for Neuroscience, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Submitted 17 January 2007; accepted in final form 26 June 2007

The last few years have seen an increase in the variety of in vivo experiments used for studying cerebellar physiological mechanisms. A combination of ketamine and xylazine has become a particularly popular form of anesthesia. However, because nonanesthetized control conditions are lacking in these experiments, so far there has been no evaluation of the effects of these drugs on the physiological activity in the cerebellar neuronal network. In the present study, we used the mossy fiber, parallel fiber, and climbing fiber field potentials evoked in the nonanesthetized, decerebrated rat to serve as a control condition against which the effects of intravenous drug injections could be compared. All anesthetics were applied at doses required for normal maintenance of anesthesia. We found that ketamine substantially depressed the evoked N3 field potential, which is an indicator of the activity in the parallel fiber synapses (–40%), and nearly completely abolished evoked climbing fiber field potentials (–90%). Xylazine severely depressed the N3 field (–75%) and completely abolished the climbing fiber field (–100%). In a combination commonly used for general anesthesia (20:1), ketamine–xylazine injections also severely depressed the N3 field (–75%) and nearly completely abolished the climbing fiber field (–90%). We also observed that lowered body and surface temperatures (<34°C) resulted in a substantial depression of the N3 field (–50%). These results urge for some caution in the interpretations of studies on cerebellar network physiology performed in animals anesthetized with these drugs.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Roggeri, B. Rivieccio, P. Rossi, and E. D'Angelo Tactile Stimulation Evokes Long-Term Synaptic Plasticity in the Granular Layer of Cerebellum J. Neurosci., June 18, 2008; 28(25): 6354 - 6359. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. Hevers, S. H. Hadley, H. Luddens, and J. Amin Ketamine, But Not Phencyclidine, Selectively Modulates Cerebellar GABAA Receptors Containing {alpha}6 and {delta} Subunits J. Neurosci., May 14, 2008; 28(20): 5383 - 5393. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]