The perirhinal cortex (PRC) is a supra-modal cortical area that collects and integrates information originating from uni- and multi-modal neocortical regions and directed to the hippocampus. The mechanisms that underlie the specific excitable properties of the different PRC neuronal types are still largely unknown, and their elucidation may be important in understanding the integrative functions of PRC. In this study we investigated the expression and properties of resurgent Na⁺ current (I_NaR) in pyramidal neurones of rat PRC area 35. Patch-clamp experiments in acute PRC slices were first carried out. A measurable I_NaR was expressed by a large majority of neurones (31 out of 35 cells). I_NaR appeared as an inward, slowly-decaying current elicited upon step repolarisation after depolarisations sufficient to induce nearly complete inactivation of the transient Na⁺ current (I_NaT). I_NaR had a peak amplitude of ca. 2.5% that of I_NaT, and showed the typical biophysical properties also observed in other neuronal types (i.e. cerebellar Purkinje and granule cells), including a bell-shaped current-voltage relationship with a peak at approximately -40 mV, and a characteristic acceleration of activation and decay speed at potentials negative to -45 mV. Current-clamp experiments were then carried out in which repetitive action-potential discharge at various frequencies was induced with depolarising current injection. The voltage signals thus obtained were then used as command waveforms for voltage-clamp recordings. These experiments showed that a Na⁺ current identifiable as I_NaR activates in the early interspike phase even at relatively high firing frequencies (20 Hz), thereby contributing to the depolarising drive and possibly enhancing repetitive discharge. In acutely dissociated area-35 layer-II neurones, as well as in nucleated patches from the same neurones, I_NaR was never observed, despite the presence of typical I_NaTs. Because in both preparations neuronal processes are lost, we carried out experiments of focal tetrodotoxin (TTx) application in slices to verify whether the channels responsible for I_NaR are located in compartment(s) different from the soma. We found that TTx preferentially inhibited I_NaR when applied close to the site of axon emergence from soma, whereas application to the apical pole of the soma had a significantly smaller effect on I_NaR. Our results indicate that in area-35 pyramidal cells I_NaR is largely generated in the axon initial segment, where it may participate to setting the coding properties of these neurones.