Ninomiya Y, Funakoshi M
Brain Res. 1982 Jun 17;242(1):67-76. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(82)90496-6.
Response characteristics to the 4 taste stimuli (NaC1, tartaric acid, sucrose and quinine-HCl) and spontaneous discharge rates of taste neurons in the dog thalamus were examined. Response patterns of 72 thalamic neurons were somewhat complex, involving excitation (on type, on-off type and off type) and inhibition (short-term type and long-term type). A comparison among the responses to the 4 taste stimuli renders low response discharge rates and a high incidence of inhibitory responses to quinine-HCl. Measuring of the breadth of responsiveness showed that the thalamic taste neurons have varying sensitivities to the 4 taste stimuli and neurons responding best to quinine-HCl were more broadly tuned than those to each of the other 3 stimuli. These neurons also have varying spontaneous discharge rates and showed some relationship between the spontaneous rates and responses to taste stimuli. Neurons which showed inhibitory responses to stimuli have relatively high spontaneous rates. Neurons with higher spontaneous rates tend to be more narrowly tuned to the 4 taste stimuli. These relationships appeared not only as a general tendency of all the thalamic neurons but also as a characteristic of each of the 3 individual neurons which changed the spontaneous rates and breadth of responsiveness during long time recordings of neural discharges.
研究了犬丘脑味觉神经元对4种味觉刺激（氯化钠、酒石酸、蔗糖和盐酸奎宁）的反应特性以及自发放电率。72个丘脑神经元的反应模式较为复杂，包括兴奋（开型、开-关型和关型）和抑制（短期型和长期型）。对4种味觉刺激反应的比较显示，对盐酸奎宁的反应放电率较低，抑制反应的发生率较高。对反应广度的测量表明，丘脑味觉神经元对4种味觉刺激具有不同的敏感性，对盐酸奎宁反应最佳的神经元比其他3种刺激的神经元调谐范围更广。这些神经元的自发放电率也各不相同，并且自发放电率与味觉刺激反应之间存在一定关系。对刺激表现出抑制反应的神经元具有相对较高的自发放电率。自发放电率较高的神经元对4种味觉刺激的调谐往往更窄。这些关系不仅表现为所有丘脑神经元的一般趋势，也表现为在长时间记录神经放电过程中自发放电率和反应广度发生变化的3个单个神经元各自的特征。
