Despite extensive characterization of sex differences in the medial preoptic area (mPOA) of the hypothalamus, we know surprisingly little about whether or how male and female mPOA neurons differ electrophysiologically, especially in terms of neuronal firing and behavioral pattern generation. In this study, by performing whole-cell patch clamp recordings of the mPOA, we investigated the influences of sex, cell type, and gonadal hormones on the electrophysiological properties of mPOA neurons. Notably, we uncovered significant sex differences in input resistance (male > female) and in the percentage of neurons that displayed post-inhibitory rebound (male > female). Furthermore, we found that the current mediated by the T-type Ca²⁺ channel (I_T), which is known to underlie post-inhibitory rebound, was indeed larger in male mPOA neurons. Thus, we have identified salient electrophysiological properties of mPOA neurons, namely I_T and post-inhibitory rebound, that are male-biased and likely contribute to the sexually dimorphic display of behaviors.

尽管对下丘脑内侧视前区 (mPOA) 的性别差异进行了广泛的描述，但令人惊讶的是，我们对男性和女性 mPOA 神经元在电生理学上是否存在差异或如何存在差异知之甚少，尤其是在神经元放电和行为模式生成方面。在本研究中，通过对 mPOA 进行全细胞膜片钳记录，我们研究了性别、细胞类型和性腺激素对 mPOA 神经元电生理特性的影响。值得注意的是，我们发现输入阻力（男性>女性）和表现出抑制后反弹的神经元百分比（男性>女性）存在显着的性别差异。此外，我们发现由 T 型 Ca ²⁺通道 ( I _T ) 介导的电流（已知是抑制后反弹的基础）在雄性 mPOA 神经元中确实更大。因此，我们已经确定了 mPOA 神经元的显着电生理特性，即I _T和抑制后反弹，这些特性是男性偏向的，可能导致行为的性别二态性表现。