Competitive NMDA receptor antagonists differentially affect dopamine cell firing pattern

Alterations in the firing pattern of mesencephalic dopamine (DA) neurons appear to constitute a physiological mechanism through which these cells modify their effects on target neurons. Several lines of evidence suggest that the activity patterns exhibited by DA cells in vivo are contingent on tonic activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. In the present series of experiments, extracellular single unit recording techniques were used to assess the effects of the centrally acting, competitive NMDA receptor antagonists CGS-19755, (+/-)-CPP, NPC-12626 and NPC-17742 on the firing properties of nigral DA neurons in the chloral hydrate-anesthetized rat. Each of the drugs tested produced a modest increase in firing rate accompanied by a significant regularization of neuronal firing pattern. Although the number of bursts and the percentage of spikes in bursts were reduced, the proportion of cells operationally defined as bursting was not appreciably altered. This appeared to be due to the ability of these drugs to reduce the number of spike doublets without affecting the incidence of longer bursts. Although generally consistent with the notion that NMDA receptors modulate DA neuronal firing pattern, the present data do not support the contention that tonic activation of these receptors is solely responsible for the expression of bursting activity in vivo. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.