Fig. 3: The excitability of intermediate (IM) neurons not regular spiking (RS) neurons increased in ACC layer III (L3) after nerve injury.

A Upper: The whole-cell patch recording of RS neurons in ACC L3. Lower: Sample trace of RS neuron AP. B–D CPN ligation didn’t change RS neurons RMP, Rheo-base current, threshold, half-width (Two-tailed unpaired t-test in (B–D), in (B): t = 1.35, df = 16, P = 0.19; in (C): t = 0.23, df = 16, P = 0.82; in (D): t = 0.26, df = 16, P = 0.80; n = 10 neurons/3 Sham mice, n = 8 neurons/3 CPN mice). E Upper: Representative traces showed the voltage response to a series of 500 ms current pulses from 50 pA to 400 pA with 50 pA steps of RS neurons in the Sham and CPN group. Lower: the waveforms of the stimulation currents. F Quantification of AP number of RS neurons firing under current injection (Two-way ANOVA, Interaction, F_{(7, 168)} = 1.15, P = 0.34; Sham vs. CPN: F_{(1, 24)} = 1.58, P = 0.22; n = 14 neurons/4 Sham mice, n = 12 neurons/4 CPN mice). G Upper: The whole-cell patch recording of IM neurons in ACC L3. Lower: Sample trace of IM neuron AP. H–J CPN ligation didn’t change IM neurons RMP, Rheo-base current, threshold (Two-tailed unpaired t-test in (H–J), in (H): t = 0.02, df = 20, P = 0.99; in (I): t = 1.30, df = 20, P = 0.21; in (J): t = 0.34, df = 20, P = 0.74; n = 12 neurons/3 Sham mice, n = 10 neurons/3 CPN mice). K Upper: Representative traces showed the voltage response to a series of 500 ms current pulses from 50 to 400 pA with 50 pA steps of IM neurons in the Sham and CPN group. Lower: the waveforms of the stimulation currents. L Quantification of AP number of IM neurons firing under current injection (Two-way ANOVA, Interaction, F_{(7, 126)} = 2.25, P = 0.03; Sham vs. CPN: F_{(1, 18)} = 6.74, P = 0.02; n = 9 neurons/3 Sham mice, n = 11 neurons/3 CPN mice). All data were mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.