Correlative firing patterns of serotonergic neurons in rat dorsal raphe nucleus.

In this study, local neuronal interactions in the midbrain dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) were analyzed by the use of autocorrelation and cross-correlation histograms. The autocorrelograms of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT)-containing cells showed an initial trough and subsequent periodicity which corresponded to their regular rhythmic firing pattern. Cross-correlograms revealed that all adjacent 5-HT neurons recorded from single micropipettes displayed complicated patterns of functional interactions. The interactions could be grouped into the following categories: (1) synchronization (interspike intervals less than 10 msec), (2) synchronization and direct inhibition, (3) synchronization and mutual inhibition. In contrast, cross-correlograms generated from adjacent neuronal pairs consisting of one 5-HT cell and one non-5-HT neuron or from non-adjacent 5-HT neuronal pairs usually failed to show functional interactions. The results of the present study are consistent with previous findings of a powerful auto-and mutual regulatory system for 5-HT neurons in the DRN.