Globus pallidus discharge is coincident with striatal activity during global slow wave activity in the rat.

The emergence of bursting and oscillations in the basal ganglia under normal and pathological conditions has attracted considerable interest, but the neural substrate of these patterns is poorly understood. Here we use multisite recordings in anesthetized rats to examine the relationship of globus pallidus (GP) spiking and striatal activity in relation to cortical slow-wave activity. We found that GP neurons displayed increased spike rates or bursts coincident with cortical activation and striatal up states. Furthermore, the onset of GP bursts typically coincides with transitions to striatal up states that precede striatal spiking. These data indicate that GP activity is driven by excitatory corticosubthalamic input during periods of synchronized bursting activity.