Periodic bursting activities of locus coerulleus neurons in the rat.

Unit activity of locus coeruleus (LC) neurons in rats was investigated. After the animal recovered from anesthesia, the spontaneous activity exhibited periodic bursting discharges at about 15-30 s intervals. The oscillation was observed to last for a long time (1-3 h). It is suggested that many LC neurons exhibited the oscillation synchronously during stress in the awake animal.