[Reactions of caudate nucleus neurons to presentation of acoustic clicks to cats in a chronic experiment].

Background and evoked activities of the caudate nucleus neurons to repetitive auditory clicks were recorded extracellularly in chronic experiments with partial restrained cats. Four types of background neuronal activity were distinguished. 44% of recorded units altered their background activity during auditory click applications. Five types of neuronal responses were found: phasic activation, phasic inhibition, tonic activation, tonic inhibition, mixed tonic reactions. Tonic activation was predominant. The phasic responses persisted under prolonged presentation of clicks. Partial or total attenuation of tonic responses during frequent repetition of clicks occurred in 33% of responding units. The question is discussed on the convergence of specific and unspecific influences on the caudate nucleus neurons.