Urethane modification of EEG-like activity and acoustically evoked field potentials recorded from deep nuclei

Average acoustic-evoked responses (AAER) and EEGs were recorded from the lateral hypothalamus (LH), ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), medial forebrain bundle (MFB) and reticular formation (RF) of freely behaving rats before and after various doses (0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2 g/5g) of the anesthetic drug, urethane. The effect of a surgical level of urethane (1.2 g/5g) over time (8--14 h) was also studied. Urethane produced a dose-dependent slowing in the EEG frequency. The effect of 1.2 g/kg over time was a bimodal depression of the EEG frequency. Three components of the AAER were recorded consistently and evaluated in terms of amplitude. With increasing doses, the early component (P2) was depressed in the LH2, VMH and MFB, but not in the RF which remained at control values or higher. The later components (N2 and P2) were depressed in all four structures. This suggests that urethane may be blocking the integrative function of the RF, as well as in the thalamus, resulting in lower sensory input to higher CNS structures.