Different mEPSC characteristics inside and outside bursts. (A) A 50 s long recording in 1.5 Ca_o/20 K_o (upper trace) containing three bursts (yellow, blue, and green symbols). Within each burst, mEPSCs display homogeneous peak amplitude values (upper plot) as well as homogeneous and low risetime values (lower plot). Superimposed synchronized mEPSCs are shown below for each burst. In contrast to mEPSCs inside bursts, mEPSCs outside bursts display variable peak amplitude and risetime values (crosses). A plot of seven superimposed consecutive mEPSCs (black) occurring between the blue and the green burst is shown in addition to the burst traces. (B and C) Normalized cumulative histograms from six cells as in A showing larger peak amplitudes for mEPSCs inside bursts compared to mEPSCs outside bursts (P = 0.0004, B), and faster mEPSC risetimes for mEPSCs inside bursts compared to mEPSCs outside bursts (P = 0.0002, C; Kolmogorov-Smirnov test). (D and E) Individual burst analysis of the same data. D, left: mEPSCs inside bursts (dark blue) had on average a higher peak amplitude than mEPSCs outside bursts (light blue; paired t test: P = 0.04). Dotted lines link together results for individual bursts to corresponding non-bursting events data in the same recording. D, right: mEPSCs inside bursts have a lower peak amplitude CV than mEPSCs outside bursts (paired t test: P = 2 × 10⁻²¹). E, left: mEPSCs inside bursts had on average a lower 10–90% risetime than mEPSCs outside bursts (paired t test: P = 0.01). E, right: mEPSCs inside bursts have a lower risetime CV than mEPSCs outside bursts (paired t test: P = 1 × 10⁻¹¹). Number of independent experiments: n = 6 cells from 5 animals in B–E.