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. 2008 Jan 10;586(Pt 7):1823–1832. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2007.149450

Figure 5. Extracellular recording of a neuron in the anterior part of the rat DRN in vitro.

Figure 5

The method has been previously described (Seutin et al. 1990). Retigabine induces a concentration-dependent inhibition of the firing rate of the cell. Unlike the situation in vivo in which the majority of DRN serotonergic neurons are spontaneously active, most DRN serotonergic neurons are silent in a slice preparation. In the presence of 10 μm phenylephrine, they fire at a rate of 0.5–5 spikes per second and are characterized by long duration (2 ms), often triphasic action potentials. Neuronal spike activity is completely inhibited by nanomolar concentrations of the selective 5-HT1A agonist 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamine)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT), which strongly suggests that the neuron is serotonergic.