Slide 19

If the stop stimulus causes the persistent activity to cease owing to the prolonged activation of GABAergic interneurons, then the calculated reversal potential should be more negative for the stop versus the start stimuli. A. Calculated reversal potential of the Start response, the UP state, and the Stop response. B. Calculated membrane conductance during the start, UP state, and stop. C. Comparison of the reversal potential of the start and stop stimuli. Note that the reversal potential for the stopping stimulus is significantly negative to the start stimulus. We hypothesize that this results from the prolonged activation of GABAergic interneurons and participates in the cessation of network activity.

From: Shu, Y-S., Hasenstaub, A., and McCormick, D.A. (2003) Turning on and off recurrent, balance cortical activity. Nature 423: 288-293.