Callosal responses of fast-rhythmic-bursting neurons during slow oscillation in cats

The cortically generated slow oscillation consists of long-lasting hyperpolarizations associated with depth-positive electroencephalogram (EEG) waves and neuronal depolarizations accompanied by firing during the depth-negative EEG waves. It has previously been shown that, during the prolonged hyperpolarizations, the transfer of information from prethalamic pathways to neocortex is impaired, whereas the intracortical dialogue is maintained. To study some of the factors that may account for the maintenance of the intracortical information transfer during the hyperpolarization, intracellular recordings from association areas 5 and 7 were performed in anesthetized cats, and the synaptic responsiveness of fast-rhythmic-bursting, regular-spiking and fast-spiking neurons was tested using single pulses to the homotopic sites in the contralateral areas. During the long-lasting hyperpolarizations callosal volleys elicited in fast-rhythmic-bursting neurons, but not in regular-spiking or fast-spiking neurons, large-amplitude excitatory post-synaptic potentials crowned by single action potentials or spike clusters. Our data show that callosal volleys excite and lead to spiking in fast-rhythmic-bursting neurons during prolonged hyperpolarizations, thus enabling them to transmit information within intracortical networks during slow-wave sleep.