Figure 4.

Footshock stimulation elicits Ca²⁺ responses in cortical astrocytes independent of sensory activity. (A) Significant Ca²⁺ responses to contralateral foot stimulation with image of single cell response (inset) illustrated in top red trace. Images of time points indicated by numbers in top trace. (B) Comparison of bilateral Ca²⁺ responses (P = 0.002, t-test). (C) Contralateral hindlimb Ca²⁺ responses were subdivided into hindlimb and nonhindlimb sensory fields for further comparison (P = 0.140, t-test). Nonhindlimb areas include trunk, forelimb, and barrel sensory fields. (D) Effects of metabotropic glutamate antagonism in hindlimb versus nonhindlimb sensory fields (P = 0.043, paired t-test). MP-HL, MPEP with window over hindlimb; MP-Tr, MPEP over trunk. Scale bar is 100 μm.