Table 1.

Effects of pharmacological agents on burst parameters

Experimental conditions	BR	BD	BVNBR	FR	Spikes/burst	Spikes/trial	N
Co²⁺, 2–10 μm	NS	↓54.1 ± 2.4	↓55.5 ± 1.4	NS	↓60.7 ± 9.0	↓37.4 ± 2.7	4 (3)
		p ≤ 0.024	p ≤ 0.047		p ≤ 0.1	p ≤ 0.038
Curare, 2 μm	↓81 ± 16	↓71 ± 13	↓72.5 ± 3.7	↓62 ± 26	NS	↓72.5 ± 4.8	4
	p ≤ 0.034	p ≤ 0.05	p≤ 0.067	p ≤ 0.15		p ≤ 0.0001
Mecamylamine, 2–4 μm	↓100 ± 0	?	?	?	?	↓97.0 ± 0.8	5
	p ≤ 0.0001					p ≤ 0.0005
Neostigmine, 2–5 μm	↑260 ± 130	↓42 ± 20	↑170 ± 160	↑300 ± 200	NS	↑114 ± 30	6 (5)
	p ≤ 0.01	p ≤ 0.036	p≤ 0.066	p ≤ 0.008		p ≤ 0.01
Kynurenate, 75–100 μm	↓71 ± 13	NS	NS	NS	NS	↓66.7 ± 7.3	6 (5)
	p ≤ 0.0085					p ≤ 0.014
DNQX, 10 μm	↓100 ± 0	?	?	?	?	↓90.3 ± 9.1	3
	p ≤ 0.0001					p ≤ 0.025
CNQX, 5–10 μm	↓87 ± 13	NS	NS	NS	NS	↓82 ± 12	3
	p ≤ 0.025					p ≤ 0.025
d-AP-5, 10–25 μm	NS	NS	NS	NS	NS	↓37 ± 6	6
						p ≤ 0.001
Bicuculline, 2–4 μm	NS	↑28.7 ± 9.3	↑88 ± 44	NS	↑59 ± 53	↑44 ± 15	8 (7)
		p ≤ 0.016	p ≤ 0.0078		p ≤ 0.064	p ≤ 0.0039
Nipecotic acid, 10 μm	↓36 ± 18	NS	↓60 ± 10	NS	↓46 ± 15	↓56 ± 7	5
	p ≤ 0.05		p ≤ 0.0025		p ≤ 0.025	p ≤ 0.001
Cs⁺ + TEA, 50 μm	↓59 ± 11	↑44 ± 18.3	↓49 ± 29	↓26.9 ± 9.9	↓16 ± 11	↓66.3 ± 5.7	6 (4)
	p ≤ 0.0002	p ≤ 0.038	p≤ 0.13	p ≤ 0.01	p ≤ 0.12	p≤ 0.0071
Halothane	↓30 ± 13	↑70 ± 37	NS	NS	↑41 ± 28	NS	4
	p ≤ 0.026	p ≤ 0.033			p ≤ 0.069

This table summarizes changes in BR, BD, BVNBR, FR within bursts, number of spikes per burst, and number of spikes per trial during several pharmacological treatments, as explained in the first column of the table. The values are expressed as median ± MAD (see Materials and Methods). Upwards arrows indicate an increase and downwards arrows indicate a decrease in the values. NS, Not significant. The question marks indicate parameters that could not be measured, because there were no bursts left, but only sporadic, random spiking activity. Numbers in parentheses in the N column indicate the number of cells used to calculate all bursts parameters. (Sometimes not all cells can be used because a pharmacological treatment abolishes bursting activity.) The number before the parentheses indicates the total number of cells used, at least to measure the total number of spikes per trial (which can always be measured, even when there are no bursts left).