Abstract
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the master biological clock in mammals. Despite the periodic mean firing rate, interspike interval (ISI) patterns of SCN neurons are quite complex and irregular. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of neuronal interactions on the complex ISI patterns of SCN neurons. ISI sequences were recorded from 56 neurons in rat hypothalamic slice preparations by using a cell-attached patch recording technique, Their correlation dimensions (D 2) were estimated and were then compared with those of randomly shuffled surrogate data. To see if the neuronal coupling mediated by the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the major neurotransmitter in the SCN, contributed to the complex nature of the spikes, we examined the effect of the GABA A receptor antagonist bicuculline on the D 2 values of the neurons, Most SCN neurons exhibited decreased D 2 values after bicuculline application. This result suggests that the complex nature of the SCN neurons arises from GABA A receptor-mediated synaptic couplings.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 620-624 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Journal of the Korean Physical Society |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Publication status | Published - 2005 Mar |
Keywords
- Bicuculline
- Complexity
- Correlation dimension
- Interspike intervals
- Rat
- Suprachiasmatic nucleus
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy(all)