Figure 8.

Drivers and modulators during slow oscillations in the mouse thalamus. A, Typical examples of neuronal activities recorded during slow-wave cycles from different thalamic nuclei and from the somatosensory cortex. The traces were aligned according to contralateral EEG (top). Red arrows and blue arrows indicate examples of unitary large-amplitude and merged together small EPSPs, respectively. Spontaneous large-amplitude EPSPs were a characteristic feature of all intracellular activities recorded within VPM, LGN, PO, and AV nuclei. AV neurons generated bursts of EPSPs. B, Averaged large-amplitude EPSPs recorded from four thalamic nuclei (VPM, LGN, PO, and AV: n = 9, 7, 11, and 10 neurons, respectively). The plots represent the mean amplitudes (right) and kinetics (bottom) of the EPSPs. *p < 0.05 (t test or Mann–Whitney sum rank test). **p < 0.01 (t test or Mann–Whitney sum rank test). ***p < 0.001 (t test or Mann–Whitney sum rank test). Large-amplitude EPSPs within VPM and LGN neurons, which were not modulated by cortical states and responded to sensory stimulation displayed the shortest rising time (fast-rising EPSPs).