RESPONSE PROPERTIES OF NEURONS IN THE CAUDATE-PUTAMEN AND GLOBUS-PALLIDUS TO NOXIOUS AND NONNOXIOUS THERMAL-STIMULATION IN ANESTHETIZED RATS

To investigate the possible mechanisms by which neurons in the caudate -putamen (CPu) and globus pallidus (GP) participate in pain and nocice ption, the present study characterized the response properties of CPu and GP neurons to non-noxious and noxious thermal stimuli in anestheti zed rats. Nociceptive CPu and GP neurons were capable of encoding noxi ous thermal stimuli and 79% of these thermally responsive neurons also responded to noxious mechanical stimuli. Thermally responsive neurons were activated during the phasic rise and fall of the thermal shift i n addition to the plateau temperature. The ability of Cpu and GP neuro ns to encode noxious thermal stimulation intensity and respond during the dynamic phase of the stimulus suggests that these neurons may cont ribute to the behavioral response to minimize bodily harm. (C) 1998 El sevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.