| Abstract: | Extracellular recordings were obtained from neurons in the nucleus accumbens and globus pallidus of urethane anesthetized rats. Eight neurons in the nucleus accumbens were activated antidromically following stimulation of the globus pallidus. Calculated conduction velocities were 0.4–1.5 m/sec, indicative of small unmyelinated fibers.A total of 74 of 153 neurons in the globus pallidus responded to stimulation of the nucleus accumbens. Of these neurons 4 (2.7%) were excited only, 46 (30.1%) were inhibited only and 24 (15.7%) had sequential effects of excitation and inhibition. Iontophoretic application of picrotoxin was found to attenuate or abolish the poststimulus inhibition in one-half of the neurons examined. The 74 neurons which responded to stimulation of the nucleus accumbens had slower firing frequencies and generally more random firing patterns than neurons which did not respond to stimulation. Fifty-three per cent of all globus pallidus neurons examined had increased spontaneous firing frequencies following the iontophoretic administration of picrotoxin alone. This is indicative of the removal of a tonic GABA input onto these neurons. Most neurons examined had decreased spontaneous firing frequencies following the iontophoretic application of GABA which could be blocked by the iontophoretic application of picrotoxin.The results from antidromic activation, slow conduction velocity, sensitivity to GABA and picrotoxin, and picrotoxin attenuation of the poststimulus inhibitory effect provide evidence of a direct GABAergic projection from the nucleus accumbens to the globus pallidus in the rat. |
