We investigated whether evoked potentials to omitted stimuli
could be measured in rats. Such an animal model would provide
a measure of aspects of information processing concerned with
expectancy and time estimation. In a first experiment, omission
evoked potentials (OEPs) were elicited in rats by omitting stimuli
(10%) from a train of tone pips with a fixed ISI (3 s). A control
session consisted of omitting stimuli (10%) from a train of
tone pips with a variable ISI (2.5–3.5 s). In a second
experiment, OEPs were measured in rats that received 4
mg·kg−1 diazepam or vehicle sc. In the
first experiment, half of the animals showed OEPs that consisted
of a late-latency positive wave, the other rats showed a slow
negative drift. No OEPs were found in the control session. Rats
showing OEPs consisting of a positive wave in Experiment 1 were
passed to Experiment 2. In the vehicle condition of the second
experiment, all rats showed OEPs. In the diazepam condition
no OEPs were found. We found that OEPs can be measured in rats.
In addition, OEPs are disrupted by diazepam. We propose that
OEPs provide an elegant tool to elicit selectively endogenous
EP components.