Jarosiewicz, Beata
(2004)
THE SMALL IRREGULAR ACTIVITY STATE IN THE RAT HIPPOCAMPUS.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
The sleeping rat cycles between two well characterized physiological states, slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid eye-movement sleep (REM), often identified by the presence of large irregular activity (LIA) and theta activity, respectively, in the hippocampal EEG. Inspection of the activity of ensembles of hippocampal CA1 complex-spike cells along with the EEG reveals the presence of a third physiological state, distinctly different from both REM and SWS in both hippocampal EEG and population activity. The EEG during this state abruptly flattens for a few seconds, appearing very similar to the "small-amplitude irregular activity" (SIA) hippocampal EEG state reported in the literature to occur when rats are startled out of sleep. The flattening of the EEG is accompanied by a striking pattern of spike activity in the population of hippocampal pyramidal cells, wherein a small subset of cells becomes very active while the rest become quiet; the same subset of cells is usually active across long sequences of SIA. This dissertation shows (1) that these active cells are place cells whose place fields are in the location in which the rat is sleeping; (2) that the spontaneous SIA observed during sleep corresponds to the SIA state of increased alertness that has been reported in the literature to occur when rats are startled out of sleep; (3) that SIA is accompanied by a desynchronized neocortical EEG and low amplitude EMG; (4) that the cells active in SIA reflect a memory for the location in which the rat fell asleep, rather than an assessment of its location based on current sensory information; and (5) that the generation of SIA is likely to involve an increase of serotonin levels in the medial septal nucleus. It is proposed that SIA serves as a neural substrate for maintaining context memory during sleep, and that it reflects a partial arousal in response to internal or external stimuli that allows the animal to assess whether full awakening is warranted, without disrupting the sleep cycle.
Share
| Citation/Export: |
|
| Social Networking: |
|
Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
|
| Date: |
16 January 2004 |
| Date Type: |
Completion |
| Defense Date: |
25 November 2003 |
| Approval Date: |
16 January 2004 |
| Submission Date: |
15 December 2003 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Neuroscience |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
5-HT; hippocampus; microinfusion; inactivation; medial septum; micro-arousal |
| Other ID: |
http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-12152003-161042/, etd-12152003-161042 |
| Date Deposited: |
10 Nov 2011 20:10 |
| Last Modified: |
19 Dec 2016 14:38 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/10369 |
Metrics
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[feed]](/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}