Figure 2.

Ethanol inhibits persistent activity in brain-slice cocultures. A, Details of the slice coculture system. The diagram shows the orientation of brain slices in the coculture system used in the present study (HP, hippocampus). The middle panels show tyrosine-hydroxylase immunoreactivity (TH staining) with the bottom showing VTA cell bodies and top showing TH-positive fibers in the PFC portion of slice. The right panels show a biocytin-filled pyramidal neuron in the PFC portion of the slice coculture. B, Representative trace (and expanded section showing one up-state period) showing example of bistability and persistent activity recorded from a single PFC pyramidal neuron under current-clamp mode. C–E, Representative traces showing the effects of ethanol (10–50 mm) on spontaneous persistent activity of single PFC pyramidal neurons. In each set of traces, the top trace is the control, the middle trace is in the presence of ethanol, and the bottom trace is after washout. F, Effect of 100 mm ethanol on spike firing of PFC neurons induced by a series of current injections. The summary figures show the effects of 100 mm ethanol on resting membrane potential (left) and number of spikes (right) and are the mean ± SEM from four neurons.