Simultaneous recording of spontaneous activities and nociceptive responses from neurons in the pars compacta of substantia nigra and in the lateral habenula.

Abstract

Using simultaneous extracellular single-unit recording in the pars compacta of the substantia nigra and in the lateral habenula of rats, 45 pairs of neurons responding to peripheral nociceptive stimulation were recorded. In 41 of these pairs, nigral dopaminergic neurons were inhibited by peripheral nociceptive stimulation, while lateral habenula neurons were excited. Moreover, in 14 pairs, when sweeps were triggered randomly by spontaneous spikes from lateral habenula neurons the spontaneous firing rate of the dopaminergic neurons during the first 250 ms after the sweep was much lower than rates after this time period. In this case, the sweep was often triggered by burst-firing of lateral habenula neurons. Our results indicate a cross-correlation between the spontaneous activities of these two nuclei, suggesting that the excitation of lateral habenula neurons induced by peripheral nociceptive stimulation might be directly responsible for inhibition of nigral dopaminergic neurons.