• Min Wang, Qingyang Qu, Tingting He, Min Li, Zhimin Song, Feiyu Chen, Xiao Zhang, Jinlu Xie, Xiwen Geng, Maoquan Yang, Xiusong Wang, Chengdong Lei, and Yabing Hou.
• Key Laboratory of Animal Resistance of Shandong Province, College of Life Science, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250014, People's Republic of China. Electronic address: wangmin78@yahoo.com.
• Neuroscience. 2016 Aug 25; 330: 57-71.

AbstractSeveral studies have suggested that the thalamic centromedian-parafascicular (CM/PF or the PF in rodents) is implicated in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD). However, inconsistent changes in the neuronal firing rate and pattern have been reported in parkinsonian animals. To investigate the impact of a dopaminergic cell lesion on PF extracellular discharge in behaving rats, the PF neural activities in the spike and local field potential (LFP) were recorded in unilaterally 6-hydroxydopamine- (6-OHDA) lesioned and neurologically intact control rats during rest and limb movement. During rest, the two PF neuronal subtypes was less spontaneously active, with no difference in the spike firing rates between the control and lesioned rats; only the lesioned rats reshaped their spike firing pattern. Furthermore, the simultaneously recorded LFP in the lesioned rats exhibited a significant increase in power at 12-35 and 35-70Hz and a decrease in power at 0.7-12Hz. During the execution of a voluntary movement, two subtypes of PF neurons were identified by a rapid increase in the discharge activity in both the control and lesioned rats. However, dopamine lesioning was associated with a decrease in neuronal spiking fire rate and reshaping in the firing pattern in the PF. The simultaneously recorded LFP activity exhibited a significant increase in power at 12-35Hz and a decrease in power at 0.7-12Hz compared with the control rats. These findings indicate that 6-OHDA induces modifications in PF spike and LFP activities in rats during rest and movement and suggest that PF dysfunction may be an important contributor to the pathophysiology of parkinsonian motor impairment.Copyright © 2016 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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