Patterns of resting discharge in neurons of the raccoon main cuneate nucleus

1. The presence and pattern of resting discharge were examined in 100 single neurons of the raccoon main cuneate nucleus (MCN). Of these, 66 were activated, either antidromically or synaptically, by electrical stimulation of the contralateral thalamic ventrobasal complex (VB), and 34 were activated by stimulation of the ipsilateral cerebellum (CB). 2. Forty-one percent of VB-activated neurons displayed a resting discharge, whereas 32% of CB-activated neurons did. Most neurons activated from VB and showing a resting discharge fired in bursts of 2-5 spikes, whereas those activated from CB and showing a resting discharge generally fired as single, irregularly spaced spikes, with occasional bursts in some neurons. 3. All neurons antidromically activated from VB were histologically localized within the clusters region of the MCN, whereas those antidromically activated from CB were confined to its polymorphic region. Neurons synaptically activated from either VB or CB were located in either of these regions. 4. Differences in the proportions of neurons displaying a resting discharge did not vary significantly as a function of type of preparation: methoxyflurane anesthesia, pentobarbital sodium anesthesia, decerebrate (the latter CB-activated only). 5. Although the sample sizes were too small to demonstrate statistical significance, neurons exhibiting a resting discharge were more likely to show a bursting pattern in methoxyflurane-anesthetized preparations than were neurons in pentobarbital sodium-anesthetized preparations. 6. The probability of having no resting discharge, firing in bursts, or firing in single spikes was not related to cutaneous submodality [rapidly adapting (RA), slowly adapting (SA), Pacinian (Pc)], or to receptive field (RF) locus (glabrous versus hairy skin). 7. The overall mean rate of firing (11.8 Hz) was not significantly different for bursting versus nonbursting neurons. 8. In bursting neurons, median interspike intervals (ISIs) varied between 1.3 and 2.3 ms. Most bursting neurons also had a range of short or minimal interburst intervals (MIBIs), characteristic for each neuron, whose medians varied from neuron to neuron between 34 and 90 ms. Distributions of within-burst ISIs and MIBIs had comparable coefficients of variation, varying between 0.031 and 0.223. 9. The application of a mechanical stimulus to a neuron's peripheral RF led to a decrease in interburst intervals, accompanied, depending upon the unit, by either an increase or a decrease in the number of spikes per burst. 10. Results are discussed in terms of the functional significance of resting discharge, including bursting, and possible roles in somatosensory information