Spectral analysis and modelling of ACh and NE effects on shark nervus terminalis activity

We investigated the effects of acetylcholine (ACh) and norepinephrine (NE) on activity in the nervus terminalis (NT) ganglion of the bonnethead shark (Sphyrna tiburo) using an in vitro preparation and whole nerve recordings. Spectral analysis indicated that ACh (10 and 100 microM) had a variable effect on the total spectral power of whole nerve activity but produced a consistent decrease in half power frequency (HPF; the median frequency of the power spectrum). Norepinephrine (10 microM) reduced baseline activity and total spectral power but produced an increase in HPF in all NT preparations. Computer simulations of extracellular recordings suggested a general explanation for these findings. Acetylcholine may have opposite effects on activity in two NT cell populations with axons in the central nerve trunk, increasing activity in cells whose axons have broad spikes (low spectral frequency) and decreasing activity in cells whose axons have narrow spikes (high spectral frequency). The NE effects are consistent with a decrease in activity of cells whose axons have broad spikes (low spectral frequency) and little or no change in cells whose axons have narrow spikes (high spectral frequency). The physiological data, together with the theoretical analysis, suggest that cholinergic and catecholaminergic neurotransmitter systems are active in the bonnethead NT ganglion, and that ACh and NE have different effects on two populations of ganglion cells.