Fig. 3: L5 pyramidal cells display higher frequency firing rate and less adaptation than L2&3 and L3c neurons.

a–c Example of L2&3, L3c, and L5 pyramidal cell voltage responses following depolarizing current injections (150, 250, and 300 pA, 600 ms). d, e Action potential waveform (d) and action potential phase plot (e) averaged over recorded pyramidal cells in each layer. f L5 pyramidal cells had a smaller action potential half-width compared to L2&3 and L3c neurons, which was not significant in comparison with L2&3 neurons. Half-width of action potential was higher significantly in L3c pyramidal cells compared with L2&3 and L5 neurons (p = 0.029 between L2&3 and L3c, p = 0.022 between L3c and L5). g Current versus firing rate relationships (FI curves), averaged over pyramidal cells recorded in each layer. Shaded bands indicate SEM. h L5 pyramidal cells needed less depolarizing current to display first action potential compared to L2&3 and L3c neurons (p = 0.002). i L5 pyramidal cells show less spike frequency adaption, quantified using the adaptation index measure, in comparison with L2&3 and L3c. (p = 0.016 between L2&3 and L5; p = 0.001 between L3c and L5). One-way ANOVA post hoc with Dunn’s multiple comparison test were used for statistical comparison L2&3 (n = 55), L3c (n = 15), and L5 (n = 104). Data presented as mean ± SD in panels f, h, i. Boxplots in f, h, i denote interquartile range and whiskers denote data range excluding outliers. * indicates p < 0.05, ** indicates p < 0.01 and *** indicates p < 0.001. Source data are provided as a Source data file.