Multiple site optical recording of transmembrane voltage (MSORTV), single-unit recordings, and evoked field potentials from the olfactory bulb of skate (Raja erinacea)

Abstract

1. Multiple site optical recording of transmembrane voltage (MSORTV), together with conventional extracellular electrophysiological techniques were utilized with in vivo and in vitro preparations of the olfactory bulb of the Atlantic skate Raja erinacea to analyze electrical activity simultaneously in layers deep to the glomerular layer. 2. In the living animals and the in vitro isolated olfactory bulb, orthodromic stimulation evoked a compound action potential in the olfactory nerve fibers, followed by a series of early field-potential waves (N1, P1, N2, P2, N3, and N4). During paired stimulation experiments, unusual patterns of facilitation and suppression were observed for the N2 wave. 3. After orthodromic stimulation, single units, presumably mitral/tufted cells, exhibited a period of early discharge, followed by a period of suppression of spontaneous activity and of their test response in a pair stimulation paradigm. Some neurons also exhibited a labile period of reexcitation that was accompanied by a late surface negative field potential; these responses were also present in olfactory bulb slices. 4. Extrinsic absorption changes obtained from 500-microns saggital slices of the olfactory bulb, stained with the pyrazooxonal dye RH-155, consisted mainly of two types of depolarizing responses, a fast and a slow component, followed under some conditions by a late hyperpolarization. All signals exhibited wavelength dependences typical of the action spectrum of RH-155 and were abolished in the presence of tetrodotoxin (TTX) or high K+ in the bath. 5. The fast component of the optical signal represents synchronous compound action potentials conducted by the olfactory nerve fibers or evoked in the mitral/tufted somata and axonal pathways. The slow depolarizing optical signal appeared, after orthodromic stimuli, mainly in the zone between the glomeruli and the mitral/tufted layer; barium (1–10 mM), which depolarizes glial cells, increased its size and duration, suggesting that this signal does not reflect a glial response to [K+]o. 6. Different condition/test (C/T) intervals produced partial or complete suppression of the test response, depending on the recording site and the stimulus intensity. Just threshold orthodromic stimuli evoked an intermediate period of facilitation of the slow signals. A similar period was also observed in the N2 wave of the field potential. 7. Calcium channel blockers such as cadmium ion, or a low Ca2+ medium, suppressed the slow optical component whether evoked by orthodromic, antidromic, or direct stimulation. gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) and baclofen also reduced or blocked the slow component of the extrinsic absorption signal.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)