EXPERIMENTAL BACKGROUND: SIGNAL ANALYSIS AND BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF EVOKED POTENTIAL CONFIGURATIONS IN CATS *

The electrical potentials recorded from the brain using macroelectrodes represent the complex interaction of patterns of largely asynchronous activity arising from peripheral and central structures. Cortical recordings frequently display the well-known conspicuous rhythmic macropotentials, while relatively fast, low level activity is usually recorded from other sites. These characteristic patterns of “ongoing” activity are altered when a brief, relatively strong stimulus is applied either peripherally or centrally. Cortical rhythmic activity is usually replaced by low voltage fast potentials, while rhythmic potentials may be recorded from the hippocampus. The synchronous volley of impulses produced by the stimulus gives rise to macropotentials time-locked to the stimulus in both cortical and subcortical structures.l Some of these evoked potentials may be rather distinct, while others may be obscured by the background “ongoing” activity and require averaging techniques to detect them. The physiological origins of the macropotentials, particularly cortical potentials, have been the subject of a large number of investigations. It is generally agreed that such potentials are mainly post-synaptic in origin, and are principally generated within the However, due to the morphological and functional complexity of the dendritic fields, it has been difficult to attach a unique interpretation to the details of the macropotentia1 wave shapes. It has been frequently proposed that potentials recorded from the cerebral cortex surface, negative with respect to a distant reference electrode or ventricle, are due to depolarizing post-synaptic potentials generated in apical dendrites. The apical dendrites act as sinks to deeper lying somatic and basilar dendritic sources. Surface positive potentials are attributed to depolarization of the deeper lying structures, which then act as sinks to apical dendrite sources.2s3 There is a considerable amount of data from microelectrode depth

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