The lateral reticular nucleus (LRN) in the medullary reticular formation is a major source of mossy fibre afferents to the cerebellum. We have previously shown that many LRN neurones fire extremely regularly and respond to peripheral sensory stimulation with an initial brief pause in firing followed by a resumption of spiking with ‘reset’ timing (Xu et al., 2012). Here we have investigated synaptic inputs to rat LRN neurones that might elicit the pause-reset in firing. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were made from brain slices containing the LRN, prepared from rats aged postnatal day (P) 5 to P15 (decapitated under isoflurane anaesthesia), using a CsCl-based intracellular solution (ECl = 0 mV). Synaptic currents were evoked by local electrical stimulation. The glutamate receptor antagonist, kynurenic acid (1 mM) caused 25 ± 11 % inhibition of synaptic currents recorded at -60 mV (n = 4), while the glycine receptor antagonist, strychnine (3 μM) caused 55.6 ± 7.6% inhibition of the kynurenic acid-insensitive synaptic current (n = 6). A combination of strychnine and the GABAA receptor antagonist, picrotoxin (50 μM) caused 75.8 ± 8.4% inhibition (n = 4). In recordings from anaesthetised rats, iontophoretic application of strychnine reduced, and in some cases abolished, the pause in LRN neuronal firing evoked by peripheral sensory stimulation. These data suggest that glycinergic inhibition contributes to the pause-reset response in LRN neurones.