POSTER PRESENTATION Open Access Modeling intracellular silent oscillations and rhythmic discharge in olfactory bulb mitral cells

In mammals, the main olfactory bulb (MOB) is driven by air flow respiratory input into the nose. This slow (2-10 Hz) rhythmic input can be observed both at the local field potential (LFP) level, single cell discharge pattern level and intracellular slow oscillations of mitral cells (principal cells of the MOB). Using intracellular record-ings in freely breathing anesthetized rats, we examined membrane potential slow oscillations (MPSO) in mitral cells and their relationship with their discharge patterns [1]. Interestingly, we found cells which showed no MSPO at resting membrane potential but had neverthe-less a respiratory-synchronous discharge. Changing the excitability level of these cells with hyperpolarizing cur-rent injection favored the apparition of an MPSO while decreasing the cell discharge. We called such a dynami