Figure 2.

Altered firing properties of PLCβ4^−/− TC neurons in the VPM/VPL regions. Representative traces showing the firing pattern of wild-type (A) and PLCβ4^−/− (B) TC neurons from whole-cell patch recordings. Low-threshold burst firing was elicited by injecting prepulses hyperpolarizing the membrane potentials to approximately (i) −80 mV and (ii) −65 mV. Traces were then enlarged to show a closer look of spikes in a burst. Tonic firing was induced with depolarizing currents, (iii) 200 pA and (iv) 400 pA. The bottom panel displays the applied current steps. C, The number of spikes in a burst induced after various hyperpolarizing prepulse membrane potentials in wild-type (filled circles) and mutant (open circles). D, Tonic spikes per second induced by various depolarizing currents.