Unilateral lesion of the nigrostriatal pathway induces a transient decrease of firing rate with no change in the firing pattern of neurons of the parafascicular nucleus in the rat
Neuroscience. 2000-11-01; 101(4): 993-999
DOI: 10.1016/S0306-4522(00)00337-7
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1. Neuroscience. 2000;101(4):993-9. doi: 10.1016/s0306-4522(00)00337-7.
Unilateral lesion of the nigrostriatal pathway induces a transient decrease of
firing rate with no change in the firing pattern of neurons of the
parafascicular nucleus in the rat.
Ni ZG(1), Gao DM, Benabid AL, Benazzouz A.
Author information:
(1)INSERM U.318, Neurobiologie Préclinique, CHU-Pavillon B, BP 217, 38043,
Grenoble, France.
Electrophysiological recordings of thalamic parafascicular nucleus neurons were
done in normal rats and in three groups of rats at different time intervals
after injection of 6-hydroxydopamine into the pars compacta of substantia nigra.
In normal rats, parafascicular neurons exhibited low firing rates (3.88+/-0.80
spikes/s). Concerning the pattern, 59% of the units discharged irregularly and
41% exhibited bursty pattern. In rats with 6-hydroxydopamine lesions, the firing
rate decreased significantly during the first week post-lesion (1.15+/-0.36
spikes/s, P0.05) than that of normal rats to
return to the basal level three weeks post-lesion (3. 66+/-0.41 spikes/s,
P>0.05). In these three groups of 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats, the firing
pattern showed no change when compared to control animals. These results show
that the lesion of nigral dopaminergic neurons induced a transient decrease of
the firing rate of parafascicular neurons with no change in the firing pattern
demonstrating the absence of a stable influence of the dopaminergic system on
the spontaneous activity of parafascicular neurons.
DOI: 10.1016/s0306-4522(00)00337-7
PMID: 11113348 [Indexed for MEDLINE]