J Shanghai Jiaotong Univ Sci ›› 2022, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (4): 505-511.doi: 10.1007/s12204-022-2420-y

• Medicine-Engineering Interdisciplinary Research • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Electrophysiological Characterization of Substantia Nigra Pars Reticulata in Anesthetized Rats

LIU Xinrui 1 (刘信锐), ZHANG Qianwen1 (张骞文), WANG Ying2 (王 莹), CHEN Fujun1,3∗ (陈福俊)   

  1. (1. Bio-X Institutes, Key Laboratory for the Genetics of Developmental and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China; 2. Core Research Facilities, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, Guangdong, China; 3. Exercise Health and Technology Center, Department of Physical Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China)
  • Received:2020-11-24 Online:2022-07-28 Published:2022-08-11

Abstract: The substantia nigra pars reticulate (SNr), which plays a pivotal role in motor control, is the key structure in integrating information for cortex, basal ganglia and thalamus. Abnormal gait and posture deficits can be reversed by SNr deep brain stimulation (DBS) in certain Parkinson’s disease cases. However, functional characterization of SNr, which is the key for the optimization of DBS effect, remains elusive. In current study, we recorded extracellular single unit in SNr of urethane anesthetized rats. We have found that urethane can induce slow delta and theta oscillations in SNr local field potential. The high gamma oscillation observed is positively correlated with the occurrence of action potential. The putative GABAergic neurons have a mean firing rate of (20.82 ± 2.04) Hz, of which 65.2% display a regular firing pattern and 34.8% show irregular firing. Our results demonstrated the heterogeneous property of SNr and provided possible theoretical basis for promoting the next generation of DBS electrode design and optimization of clinical DBS parameters.

Key words: substantia nigra pars reticulate (SNr), local field potential, firing regularity, electrophysiology

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