Relation of Posttetanic Potentiation to Subnormality of Lateral Geniculate Potentials

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Abstract
The lateral geniculate response to electrical stimulation of the optic nerve was recorded in decerebrate cats and in cats anesthetized with Nembutal. Tetanization of the optic nerve at 500/sec. for 20 seconds in nembutalized cats produced a prolonged second subnormality of the geniculate postsynaptic response. Further tetanization during tetanically-induced second subnormality produced posttetanic potentiation (PTP). The degree of PTP (expressed in percentage of the pretetanic level) of the postsynaptic response following a 20-second tetanus was proportional to the degree of second subnormality present at the time the tetanus was applied. PTP was also found to occur during the subnormality which followed a brief train of optic nerve shocks, and during LSD-induced subnormality. PTP of postsynaptic lateral geniculate potentials occurred only rarely in the absence of some form of intentionally induced subnormality.