Figure 1.

Whole-cell IRKC in mPFC pyramidal neurons. A1, The whole-cell IRKC was elicited when the membrane potential stepped from –50 mV to a 200 msec voltage command (from –30 to –120 mV with 10 mV increments). A2, The whole-cell IRKC was blocked by perfusion of 1 mm Cs⁺. A3, The Cs⁺-sensitive IRKC was obtained after subtraction of the traces in A2 from those in A1.In A1–A3, every other trace of all traces elicited by the protocols were presented. B, The I–V curve of the Cs⁺-sensitive currents showed strong inward rectification. C1, The IRKC was elicited by a ramp protocol, comprising a 20 msec step to –120 mV and a 60 msec ramp from –120 to –30 mV. The trace elicited by the ramp protocol could be blocked by Cs⁺ (1 mm). C2,The Cs⁺-sensitive trace was obtained after subtraction. The first part of the current (by voltage step) is comparable with that elicited by the step protocol, as that inA3. The second part (elicited by voltage ramp) is comparable with the I–V curve obtained from step protocols, as in B. The open circles shown in the inset are data points from B after adjustment of the time course with voltage change.