Figure 1

The assessment of bursting and measurement of mEPSCs. (A) Shown are representative recordings in cell-attached (left) and whole-cell current clamp (right) configurations from neurons showing (i) bursting, (ii) random activity, and (iii) no activity. The slow upward drift of cell-attached recordings is due to the slow improvement of the seal with time. Dashed lines in whole-cell recordings represent -70 mV. (B) (i) Traces show mEPSCs recorded in the presence of TTX (1 μM) from neurons one hour after a 15 minute treatment with vehicle (left) or bicuculline (50 μM, right). (ii) Cumulative probability histograms generated from these recordings show the distribution of amplitude (left) and inter event interval (IEI, right) of mEPSC events. The inset shows the average of all mEPSCs, normalised for amplitude, in each cell. P values indicate results of Kolmogorov-Smirnoff tests. (C) This recording shows a typical response to bath applied AMPA (10 μM) recorded after 2 minutes pre-treatment with cyclothiazide (20 μM).