Intrinsic and synaptic properties of turtle red nucleus neurons in vitro

Burst discharges in the red nucleus are correlated with discrete limb movements. Intracellular recordings from red nucleus neurons in the in vitro turtle brainstem-cerebellum was performed to elucidate mechanisms underlying these bursts. Depolarizing intracellular current injection failed to demonstrate endogenous membrane currents that might produce burst discharges, and neurons did not exhibit significant spike frequency adaptation, which is a characteristic of synaptically driven bursts. Responses of red nucleus neurons to synaptic input demonstrated a late, slow depolarizing synaptic potential (slow EPSP) having a latency of 9-12 ms, and a maximal duration of 600 ms. it is concluded that neither intrinsic membrane responses, nor the duration of the slow EPSP, can fully account for the behavior of red nucleus neurons during burst discharge. We hypothesize that activity in the red nucleus is driven by a gradual recruitment of NMDA receptors, and lpr by polysynaptic excitatory pathways.