Morphology and physiology of neurons in the ventral nucleus of the lateral lemniscus in rat brain slices.

The ventral nucleus of the lateral lemniscus (VNLL) is a prominent neuronal group that lies within the auditory pathway connecting the auditory lower brainstem and midbrain. Previous physiologic studies showed that VNLL neurons respond mainly to contralaterally presented sounds and display various firing patterns. To understand better the role that VNLL neurons play in transmitting and processing of auditory information, we examined the morphology of VNLL neurons and their cellular physiology in young rat brain slices. We made whole-cell patch-clamp recordings and labeled cells intracellularly with neurobiotin to investigate the relation between morphologic neuronal types, intrinsic membrane properties, and postsynaptic responses. VNLL neurons fell into two distinct morphologic groups, i.e., bushy cells and stellate cells, based on their dendritic patterns. Stellate cells were grouped further into stellate I, II, and elongate cells according to soma shape, dendritic branches, and orientation. Bushy cells showed an onset firing pattern and a nonlinear current-voltage relationship. All three subtypes of stellate cells had a linear current-voltage relationship, but exhibited different firing patterns. Stellate I cells showed regular and onset-pause firing patterns, whereas stellate II cells showed adapting and elongate cells showed burst firing patterns. Bushy cells and stellate cells responded to stimulation of the lateral lemniscus with excitatory and/or inhibitory synaptic potentials. These results suggest that the VNLL is a heterogeneous neuronal group and that it contains many channels for processing different kinds of auditory information. Neuronal morphology and intrinsic membrane properties contribute to the behavior of individual neurons. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.