Fig. 1.
Identification of VTA DA neurons from patch-clamp recording in VTA slice. (a) In patch-clamp cell-attached recording mode, bath-application of 100 nM quinpirole (dopamine D2 receptor agonist) inhibited firing rate of DAergic neurons. (b) Under whole-cell recording mode, DA neurons exhibited hyperpolarizing pulse-activated currents (H-current, left traces) whereas GABAergic neurons usually did not express H-currents (Right traces). (c) After patch recording, the biocytin (2 mg/ml) was delivered into recorded neuron (left panel). Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) staining was performed post hoc and labels DA neurons (middle and right panels).