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. 2010 Nov 8;589(Pt 2):263–281. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2010.199646

Figure 5. Sensory responses in striatal MSNs.

Figure 5

A, air-puffs applied to contralateral whiskers, with increasing pressures (top traces) evoked in the recorded MSN subthreshold dPSPs of variable amplitude (bottom records, calibrations: 5 mV, 10 ms). The graph below depicts the mean amplitude of dPSPs (n > 22 trials for each intensity) as a function of the intensity of sensory stimuli (Sens. Stim.). Note the inflection in the amplitude of the sensory response above 40 p.s.i., which corresponded to the stimulus producing the largest response in the corresponding cortical ERP (‘optimal stimulus’, see Methods). B, examples of dPSPs (n = 3) and corresponding average potential (n = 40 successive trials) evoked in MSNs by a whisker stimulus of 40 p.s.i. (top trace). In this cell, the sensory responses remained subthreshold. C, three successive responses in a MSN that could respond to the optimal sensory stimulus (top), by sub- or suprathreshold dPSPs with the indicated firing probability (PF). D, current-induced (bottom) responses recorded from the MSNs shown in B (Da) and in C (Db).