Table 1.

Regional differences in dopamine neuron firing. Firing rates and patterns for dopamine neurons in VTA and SNc recorded in vivo, in chloral hydrate anesthetized rats. Rats were young-adults (2-3 months) and singly-housed. Relative to SNc neurons, VTA neurons show a trend to firing faster, emit more spikes in bursts (% of spikes emitted in bursts), exhibit a greater proportion of burst events (burst event frequency), and exhibit more spikes per burst. Data from Marinelli and White (2000).

	VTA (n=106)	SNc (n=113)	T test value	p-value
Firing (Hz)	4.6 ± 0.2	4.2 ± 0.17	1.52	= 0.13
% of spikes emitted in bursts	39.5 ± 2.5	25.6 ± 1.9	4.44	< 0.001
Burst event frequency (Hz)	0.63 ± 0.04	0.45 ± 0.04	3.17	< 0.01
Spikes per burst	2.96 ± 0.09	2.48 ± 0.06	4.52	< 0.001