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The Journal of Neuroscience, March 1, 2001, 21(5):1757-1766

Discharge Profiles of Ventral Tegmental Area GABA Neurons during Movement, Anesthesia, and the Sleep-Wake Cycle

Rong-Sheng Lee¹, Scott C. Steffensen^{1, 2}, and Steven J. Henriksen¹

¹ Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, and ² Department of Psychology and The Neuroscience Center, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602

Although mesolimbic dopamine (DA) transmission has been implicated in behavioral and cortical arousal, DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) are not significantly modulated by anesthetics or the sleep-wake cycle. However, VTA and SN non-DA neurons evince increased firing rates during active wakefulness (AW) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, relative to quiet wakefulness. Here we describe the effects of movement, select anesthetics, and the sleep-wake cycle on the activity of a homogeneous population of VTA GABA-containing neurons during normal sleep and after 24 hr sleep deprivation. In freely behaving rats, VTA GABA neurons were relatively fast firing (29 ± 6 Hz during AW), nonbursting neurons that exhibited markedly increased activity during the onset of discrete movements. Adequate anesthesia produced by administration of chloral hydrate, ketamine, or halothane significantly reduced VTA GABA neuron firing rate and converted their activity into phasic 0.5-2.0 sec ON/OFF periods. VTA GABA neuron firing rate decreased 53% during slow-wave sleep (SWS) and increased 79% during REM, relative to AW; however, the discharging was not synchronous with electrocortical  wave activity during AW,  wave activity during SWS, or  wave activity during REM. During deprived SWS, there was a direct correlation between increased VTA GABA neuron slowing and increased  wave power. These findings indicate that the discharging of VTA GABA neurons correlates with psychomotor behavior and that these neurons may be an integral part of the extrathalamic cortical activating system.

Key words: ventral tegmental area; anesthesia; slow-wave sleep; rapid eye movement sleep; sleep deprivation; GABA; cortical activation

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Copyright © 2001 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/01/2151757-10$05.00/0

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Vahle-Hinz and O. Detsch What can in vivo electrophysiology in animal models tell us about mechanisms of anaesthesia? Br. J. Anaesth., July 1, 2002; 89(1): 123 - 142. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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