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  • Title: "Temporal summation decay" in hypothalamic self-stimulation: threshold changes at long intrapair intervals due to axonal subnormal periods.
    Author: Yeomans JS.
    Journal: Behav Neurosci; 1990 Dec; 104(6):991-9. PubMed ID: 2178349.
    Abstract:
    Rats were trained to bar press for trains of conditioning (C) and test (T) pulses delivered via lateral hypothalamic electrodes. As intrapair (C-T) intervals increased from 10 ms to 100 ms, the frequency of pulses required for self-stimulation increased, similar to results of Smith and Coons (1970). This effect was observed only for electrode placements where self-stimulation was obtained at frequencies below 16 Hz and currents of 600 microA and higher. The effect was larger when the train duration was increased from 0.5 s to 2.0 s. The threshold increase was abolished when the T pulses were greater in current than the C pulses but not when C pulses were larger than T pulses. The larger T pulses also removed relative refractory period effects at a C-T interval of 1.0 ms. Therefore, the increase in required current or frequency at long C-T intervals appears to be due to a decline in axonal excitability (i.e., the subnormal period) rather than a decay in synaptic temporal summation. Possible flaws in other reports of paired-pulse "temporal summation decay" at long C-T intervals using 2 electrodes are discussed.
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