Regulation of the rebound depolarization and spontaneous firing patterns of deep nuclear neurons in slices of rat cerebellum

rebound depolarization and spontaneous firing patterns of deep nu-clear neurons in slices of rat cerebellum. J. Neurophysiol. 82: 1697–1709, 1999. Current-clamp recordings were made from the deep cerebellar nuclei (DCN) of 12- to 15-day-old rats to understand the factors that mediate intrinsic spontaneous firing patterns. All of the cells recorded were spontaneously active with spiking patterns rang-ing continuously from regular spiking to spontaneous bursting with the former predominating. A robust rebound depolarization (RD) leading to a Na1 spike burst was elicited after the offset of hyperpo-larizing current injection. The voltage and time dependence of the RD was consistent with mediation by low-threshold voltage-gated Ca21 channels. In addition, induction of a RD also may be affected by activation of a hyperpolarization-activated cation current, Ih. A RD could be evoked efficiently after brief high-frequency bursts of inhib-itory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) induced by stimulation of Pur