Frequency Selectivity of Layer II Stellate Cells in the Medial Entorhinal Cortex

Abstract

Electrophysiologically, stellate cells (SCs) from layer II of the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) are distinguished by intrinsic 4- to 12-Hz subthreshold oscillations. These oscillations are thought to impose a pattern of slow periodic firing that may contribute to the parahippocampal theta rhythm in vivo. Using stimuli with systematically differing frequency content, we examined supra- and subthreshold responses in SCs with the goal of understanding how their distinctive characteristics shape these responses. In reaction to repeated presentations of identical, pseudo-random stimuli, the reliability (repeatability) of the spiking response in SCs depends critically on the frequency content of the stimulus. Reliability is optimal for stimuli with a greater proportion of power in the 4- to 12-Hz range. The simplest mechanistic explanation of these results is that rhythmogenic subthreshold membrane mechanisms resonate with inputs containing significant power in the 4- to 12-Hz band, leading to larger subthreshold excursions and thus enhanced reliability. However, close examination of responses rules out this explanation: SCs do show clear subthreshold resonance (i.e., selective amplification of inputs with particular frequency content) in response to sinusoidal stimuli, while simultaneously showing a lack of subthreshold resonance in response to the pseudo-random stimuli used in reliability experiments. Our results support a model with distinctive input-output relationships under subthreshold and suprathreshold conditions. For suprathreshold stimuli, SC spiking seems to best reflect the amount of input power in the theta (4–12 Hz) frequency band. For subthreshold stimuli, we hypothesize that the magnitude of subthreshold theta-range oscillations in SCs reflects the total power, across all frequencies, of the input.