Intracellular activities of fast pyramidal tract (PT) cells and their family neurones were investigated during the EEG arousal of various degrees in terms of (1) the strength of natural or midbrain reticular stimuli, (2) the length of aroused EEG and (3) the extent of stage shift from EEG synchronization to desynchronization. 2. These cells showed a response pattern of either disfacilitation (DF), disfacilitation followed by excitation (DF + E) or excitation (E). DF and E components in these responses were respectively quantified with their amplitude and incidence, and their relations to the above-listed intensity parameters of EEG arousal were examined. 3. The threshold of eliciting DF response was lower than that for E response to natural and reticular stimuli. On intensifying the parameters of EEG arousal, accompanying increases were observed in E response but not in DF response. Rather, DF response was often masked by E response on application of relatively intense stimuli, or was decreased in a reciprocal manner to the increase of E response in accordance with the degree of EEG arousal. 4. It is postulated that the phasic and tonic phases of EEG arousal manifested, respectively, as the initial DF and late E responses bear different functions, the former representing the cerebral state of a general set on receipt of a novel stimulus, and the latter involving the state of actively responding to the stimulus by encoding its intensity.
