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Comparison of spontaneous cortical unit activity in several brain areas of unanesthetized cats

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Abstract

Spontaneous unit activity in association area 5 and some projection areas of the cortex (first somatosensory, first and second auditory areas) were studied in cats immobilized with D-tubocurarine in which the index of specific spontaneous activity, the mean frequency, types of spontaneous activity, and statistical parameters — distribution of interspike intervals and autocorrelation function — were determined. The results showed that spontaneous unit activity in the association area differs from that in the projection areas in both intensity and character. A special feature of the spontaneous activity of the auditory areas was a well-marked volley distribution of activity. In the somatosensory area the level of spontaneous activity as reflected in all indices was the lowest. In the association cortex the largest number of neurons with spontaneous activity lay at a depth of 500–1000 μ corresponding to cortical layers III–IV. In the first auditory area neurons with spontaneous activity were concentrated at a depth of 1400 μ (layer V) and in the somatosensory area at a depth of 1000–1400 μ (layers IV–V). The possible functional significance of these differences is discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. A. A. Bogomolets Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev

    O. E. Konik

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  1. O. E. Konik
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Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 13–21, January–February, 1976.

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Konik, O.E. Comparison of spontaneous cortical unit activity in several brain areas of unanesthetized cats. Neurosci Behav Physiol 7, 277–284 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01181833

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01181833

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