Most lesion studies emphasize the distinct contributions of the amygdala and perirhinal cortex to memory. Yet, the presence of strong reciprocal excitatory projections between these two structures suggests that they are functionally coupled. To gain some insight into this issue, the present study examined whether the close anatomical ties existing between perirhinal and lateral amygdala (LA) neurons are expressed in their spontaneous activity. To this end, multiple simultaneous recordings of single unit discharges and local field potentials were performed in the LA and perirhinal cortex in ketamine-xylazine anesthetized cats. The perirhinal cortex and LA exhibited a similar pattern of spontaneous activity. Recordings at both sites were dominated by a slow focal oscillation at 1 Hz onto which was superimposed a faster rhythm (approximately 30 Hz) whose amplitude fluctuated cyclically. Computing crosscorrelograms between focal waves recorded simultaneously in the perirhinal cortex and LA revealed a close relationship between their spontaneous activity. Even when recording sites were separated by as much as 8 mm, the slow focal oscillation remained highly correlated (r > or = 0.7). In contrast, the correlation between fast oscillations was usually lower (r approximately 0.3). Perievent histograms of neuronal discharges revealed that the firing probability of most LA and perirhinal neurons increased during the depth-negative component of the slow oscillation. In addition, respectively, 47 and 64% of LA and perirhinal neurons exhibited a significant modulation of firing probability in relation to the fast oscillations. Finally, crosscorrelating unit discharges simultaneously recorded in the LA and perirhinal cortex confirmed the presence of phase-related oscillatory events in both structures. In summary, our results suggest that the interconnections existing between the perirhinal cortex and LA can support the genesis of coherent neuronal activities at various frequencies. These results imply that cooperative interactions must be taking place between these structures.