Spiral Waves in Disinhibited Mammalian Neocortex

Spiral waves are a basic feature of excitable systems. Although such waves have been observed in a variety of biological systems, they have not been observed in the mammalian cortex during neuronal activity. Here, we report stable rotating spiral waves in rat neocortical slices visualized by voltage-sensitive dye imaging. Tissue from the occipital cortex (visual) was sectioned parallel to cortical lamina to preserve horizontal connections in layers III-V (500-mum-thick, approximately 4 x 6 mm(2)). In such tangential slices, excitation waves propagated in two dimensions during cholinergic oscillations. Spiral waves occurred spontaneously and alternated with plane, ring, and irregular waves. The rotation rate of the spirals was approximately 10 turns per second, and the rotation was linked to the oscillations in a one-cycle- one-rotation manner. A small (