Neuronal discharge patterns in the occipital cortex of developing rats during active and quiet sleep

Spontaneous action potentials were recorded at 1 mm depth (layer IV/V) in the occipital cortex of free moving rats between 8 and 60 days of postnatal age. Neuronal firing rates during quiet sleep (QS) increased sharply around day 11-12, parallel with an increase in the amplitude of EEG slow waves. The QS discharge pattern at all ages consisted of intermittent action potentials interspersed with short bursts. Active sleep (AS) from day 11-12 was characterized by longer lasting and more frequent bursts, and by a 2-3 X higher mean neuronal discharge rate than during QS. A peculiarity in 12-day-old rats was the presence of large fluctuations in overall firing rate continuously throughout sleep. Clomipramine completely abolished AS (for several hours) at all ages studied, during which time the cortical firing rates during sleep remained at (or lower than) the QS level prior to drug injection.