Feline brainstem neuron extracellular potential recordings

Study Purpose: The purpose of this study was to record and evaluate the activities of individual cat brainstem neurons and nerves (phrenic, hypoglossal, vagus, RLN, and lumbar) with regard to breathing, the cardiac cycle, swallowing, electrical stimulation of the superior laryngeal/vagus nerve, and induced asthma-like conditions.

Data Collection: This dataset contains simultaneously recorded cat brainstem neuron extracellular potentials with nerve and sorted spike trains. This dataset consists of recordings from 13 subjects. Data include recordings of extracellular neuronal activity acquired from 72-104 high-impedance tungsten microelectrodes (3-4 multielectrode arrays) positioned in the dorsomedial medulla, midline raphe region, ventral respiratory column, and the lateral tegmental field-parafacial region. These "raw" recordings are DAQ files (which have been translated into Spike2 file format). Nerve activity (e.g., phrenic, hypoglossal, lumbar, vagus, recurrent laryngeal), blood pressure, end-tidal CO2, tracheal pressure, and stimulus markers are also included in the DAQ file. File types include: .daq files, .edt files, and .smr files alongside annotation files.

Primary Conclusion: None stated.

Curator's Notes

Experimental Design: Subjects were decerebrated, paralyzed and artificially ventilated. Animals were anesthetized with isoflurane and arterial blood was collected and analyzed to correct metabolic acidosis as needed. Animals were infused with the neuromuscular blocker vecuronium bromide throughout the experiment to ensure paralysis. The XII nerve, Lumbar nerve, and X/RLN nerves were placed in coiled or hooked bipolar silver electrodes and used to measure the respiratory cycle and stimulus effectiveness. Experimenters used a variety of stimuli and perturbations to test different responses. Electrical stimulation to the laryngeal nerves, water bolus administration, esophageal balloon inflation and mechanical stimulation were used to elicit fictive swallowing. Amongst other tested parameters, the peripheral and central chemoreceptors were stimulated, and experimenters manipulated the subjects' mean arterial blood pressure. After experimentation, the subjects were euthanized with an overdose of euthasol.

Completeness: Batch

Subjects & Samples: This study used a total of 13 cats, both male (n=1) and female (n=12), between the ages of 17-36 months (bar 1 cat whose age was unknown).

Primary vs derivative data: This data set is composed of time series and analysis data distributed amongst three different folders. Raw data can be found in the Source folder as .daq files. Converted forms of this data is present as .smr and .xlsx files in the Primary folder, while derived version of this data is located in the Derivatives folder as .edt and .smr files.

Important Notes: There is a corresponding publication from a portion of this dataset. The uploaded data set includes 6 recordings from the published paper and 7 additional recordings. The published paper focused on changes in nerve activity during fictive swallowing and breathing and does not include evaluation of brainstem neuron activity.