Brain-State-Dependent Modulation of Neuronal Firing and Membrane Potential Dynamics in the Somatosensory Thalamus during Natural Sleep.

The thalamus plays a central role in sleep rhythms in the mammalian brain and, yet, surprisingly little is known about its function and interaction with local cortical oscillations during NREM sleep (NREM). We investigated the neuronal correlates of cortical barrel activity in the two corresponding thalamic nuclei, the ventral posterior medial (VPM), and the posterior medial (Pom) nuclei during natural NREM in mice. Our data reveal (1) distinct modulations of VPM and Pom activity throughout NREM episodes, (2) a thalamic nucleus-specific phase-locking to cortical slow and spindle waves, (3) cell-specific subthreshold spindle oscillations in VPM neurons that only partially overlap with cortical spindles, and (4) that spindle features evolve throughout NREM episodes and vary according to the post-NREM state. Taken together, our results suggest that, during natural sleep, the barrel cortex exerts a leading role in the generation and transfer of slow rhythms to the somatosensory thalamus and reciprocally for spindle oscillations.

Whisking-Related Changes in Neuronal Firing and Membrane Potential Dynamics in the Somatosensory Thalamus of Awake Mice.

The thalamus transmits sensory information to the neocortex and receives neocortical, subcortical, and neuromodulatory inputs. Despite its obvious importance, surprisingly little is known about thalamic function in awake animals. Here, using intracellular and extracellular recordings in awake head-restrained mice, we investigate membrane potential dynamics and action potential firing in the two major thalamic nuclei related to whisker sensation, the ventral posterior medial nucleus (VPM) and the posterior medial group (Pom), which receive distinct inputs from brainstem and neocortex. We find heterogeneous state-dependent dynamics in both nuclei, with an overall increase in action potential firing during active states. Whisking increased putative lemniscal and corticothalamic excitatory inputs onto VPM and Pom neurons, respectively. A subpopulation of VPM cells fired spikes phase-locked to the whisking cycle during free whisking, and these cells may therefore signal whisker position. Our results suggest differential processing of whisking comparing thalamic nuclei at both sub- and supra-threshold levels.

The in vitro and in vivo enantioselectivity of etomidate implicates the GABAA receptor in general anaesthesia.

General anaesthetics exhibiting enantioselectivity afford valuable tools to assess the fundamental mechanisms underlying anaesthesia. Here, we characterised the actions of the R-(+)- and S-(-)-enantiomers of etomidate. In mice and tadpoles, R-(+)-etomidate was more potent (approximately 10-fold) than S-(-)-etomidate in producing loss of the righting reflex. In electrophysiological and radioligand binding assays, the enantiomers of etomidate positively regulated GABAA receptor function at anaesthetic concentrations and with an enantioselectivity paralleling their in vivo activity. GABA-evoked currents mediated by human recombinant GABAA receptors were potentiated by either R-(+)- or S-(-)-etomidate in a manner dependent upon receptor subunit composition. A direct, GABA-mimetic, effect was similarly subunit dependent. Modulation of GABA receptor activity was selective; R-(+)-etomidate inhibited nicotinic acetylcholine, or 5-hydroxytryptamine3 receptor subtypes only at supra-clinical concentrations and ionotropic glutamate receptor isoforms were essentially unaffected. Acting upon reticulothalamic neurones in rat brain slices, R-(+)-etomidate prolonged the duration of miniature IPSCs and modestly enhanced their peak amplitude. S-(-)-etomidate exerted qualitatively similar, but weaker, actions. In a model of locomotor activity, fictive swimming in Xenopus laevis tadpoles, R-(+)- but not S-(-)-etomidate exerted a depressant influence via enhancement of GABAergic neurotransmission. Collectively, these observations strongly implicate the GABAA receptor as a molecular target relevant to the anaesthetic action of etomidate.

Strong, reliable and precise synaptic connections between thalamic relay cells and neurones of the nucleus reticularis in juvenile rats.

The thalamic reticular nucleus (nRT) is composed entirely of GABAergic inhibitory neurones that receive input from pyramidal cortical neurones and excitatory relay cells of the ventrobasal complex of the thalamus (VB). It plays a major role in the synchrony of thalamic networks, yet the synaptic connections it receives from VB cells have never been fully physiologically characterised. Here, whole-cell current-clamp recordings were obtained from 22 synaptically connected VB-nRT cell pairs in slices of juvenile (P14-20) rats. At 34-36 degrees C, single presynaptic APs evoked unitary EPSPs in nRT cells with a peak amplitude of 7.4 +/- 1.5 mV (mean +/- S.E.M.) and a decay time constant of 15.1 +/- 0.9 ms. Only four out of 22 pairs showed transmission failures at a mean rate of 6.8 +/- 1.1 %. An NMDA receptor (NMDAR)-mediated component was significant at rest and subsequent EPSPs in a train were depressed. Only one out of 14 pairs tested was reciprocally connected; the observed IPSPs in the VB cell had a peak amplitude of 0.8 mV and were completely abolished in the presence of 10 microM bicuculline. Thus, synaptic connections from VB cells to nRT neurones are mainly 'drivers', while a small subset of cells form closed disynaptic loops.