Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
1995-5-18
pubmed:abstractText
1. Using an in vitro preparation, intracellular recordings were made from the cell body of the "fast" coxal depressor motoneurone (Df) from the cockroach, Periplaneta americana. 2. This cell was normally quiescent in the absence of injected current but could respond to applied depolarizing current with one or more plateau potentials: regenerative depolarizations which can drive production of axonal impulses. However, when the convulsant agents picrotoxin (PTX; 10(-5) M) or pentylenetetrazole (PeTZ; 25 mM) were applied Df exhibited spontaneous bursting behaviour. 3. The bursting activity induced by the two agents was qualitatively different. The bursting pattern induced by PTX was irregular and occurred only after a delay of 20-40 min; the transformation to bursting activity occurred without any consistent changes in membrane potential and effective membrane resistance (5.9 +/- 0.4 M omega; n = 25; mean +/- SEM) remained unchanged (P > 0.1). PTX did not induce spontaneous bursting or cause a significant change in plateau potential threshold or membrane potential in isolated somata. Therefore, it appeared to exert its actions or more distant regions of the neurone, probably by enhancing the effects of excitatory synaptic input. 4. In contrast, PeTZ rapidly (30 sec-2 min) induced regular bursting activity. This agent could also produce spontaneous bursting activity in isolated somata; thus it exerted its actions primarily upon intrinsic membrane properties, although it also enhanced the effects of electrically driven synaptic stimulation of the non-isolated Df somata. 5. Experiments with PTX also revealed that bursting could be recorded in cells in which it was not possible to evoke plateau potentials by electrically depolarizing the soma. This suggests that other regions of the cell possess the machinery necessary to produce burst-like behaviour.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jan
pubmed:issn
0306-3623
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
26
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
195-204
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1995
pubmed:articleTitle
Spontaneous bursting induced by convulsant agents in an identified insect neurone.
pubmed:affiliation
Gatty Marine Laboratory, School of Biological and Medical Sciences, University of St Andrews, Fife, Scotland.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't