PFC cultures can also be evoked by applying brief trains of electrical pulses through a stimulating electrode and are accompanied by robust action potential firing. Paired recordings of neurons in PFC cultures show that the initiation and termination of up-states are highly synchronized between pyramidal neurons and fast-spiking interneurons although action potential firing is typically asynchronous (Seamans et al., 2003; Woodward and Pava, 2009). Pharmacological analysis of PFC up-states in PFC cultures reveals several components including an initial EPSP:IPSP sequence driven by AMPA and GABAA receptors followed a prolonged inward current composed of both AMPA- and NMDA-mediated events (Seamans et al., 2003).
