Firing mechanisms in the single vestibular neurons in the cat

Spontaneous unitary discharges in nucleus vestibularis lateralis (NVL) neurons were studied in locally anesthetized cats. The mean +/-S.E. firing rate of spontaneous unitary discharges of NVL neurons was 19.8 +/- 0.9 Hz. About 12% of NVL neurons showed a random firing. The spontaneous unitary discharge rate of the gamma distribution at lambda=2 was relativley low. However, the others were high. Patterns of peak interval time of the distribution with one peak and the interpeak interval time of those with two and three peaks were almost the same.