Response suppression induced by afferent stimulation in the superficial and deep layers of the hamster's superior colliculus

Summary Stimulation of the optic chiasm (OX) or visual cortex (VC) elicited a burst of impulses from visual cells in the superficial layers of the hamster's superior colliculus which was followed by a period of response suppression which lasted from 50–200 ms. During this period responses to normally suprathreshold OX and VC shocks, spontaneous activity and even injury discharges were markedly attenuated. For approximately 50% of the visual cells tested VC stimulation also reduced responses to visual stimuli. No correlations between receptive field properties and whether or not VC shocks diminished a given cell's visual responses were noted. Stimulation of either the cervical spinal cord (SC) or somatic sensory cortex (SMCTX) evoked action potentials from somatosensory neurons in the deep tectal laminae. These responses were followed by a period of suppression identical to that seen in the superficial layers after OX or VC shocks. SMCTX stimulation attenuated responses to tactile stimuli for 30% of the cells tested in the deep layers. Again, no correlation was observed between somatosensory response characteristics and whether or not a given cell exhibited response suppression.     

Effects of stimulation of frontal cortex,superior colliculus,and neck muscle afferents on interstitiospinal neurons in the cat

Summary Interstitiospinal neurons were activated by antidromic stimulation of the spinal cord ventromedial funiculus at C₁ and C₄ in cerebellectomized cats under chlor alose anesthesia. Neurons responding only to C₁ were classified as N cells and those responding both to C₁ and C₄ were classified as D cells, as in previous experiments (Fukushima et al. 1980a). Vestibular branching interstitiospinal and reticulospinal neurons were also identified as in the previous experiments.Stimulation of the ipsilateral pericruciate cortex evoked firing in 31% of N cells, 41% of D cells and 35% of vestibular branching neurons, while stimulation of the contralateral cortex excited 6% of N cells, 29% of D cells and 14% of vestibular branching neurons. Response latencies ranged from 2 to 15 ms after the effective pulse. By measuring the thresholds of activation of these neurons while changing the depth of the stimulating electrodes, and by mapping the cortical areas, it was shown that the lowest threshold areas were in the frontal eye fields and the anterior sigmoid gyrus near the presylvian sulcus (Area 6). Stimulation of the latter area often evoked neck or shoulder muscle contraction.Stimulation in the deep layers of the ipsilateral superior colliculus evoked firing in about 20% of interstitiospinal neurons and about 42% of vestibular branching neurons, with typical latencies 2–3 ms after the effective pulse, while stimulation of the contralateral superior colliculus was rarely effective. N cells and D cells responded similarly. Thresholds for activation were high in the intermediate tectal layers and declined as the electrodes entered the underlying tegmentum. This suggests that the superior colliculus is not the main source of synaptic inputs to these neurons. Low threshold points were found above the deep fiber layer when stimulating electrodes were inserted into the pretectum.Stimulation of the C₂ biventer cervicis nerve excited about 8% of N cells, 18% of D cells, and 15% of vestibular branching neurons bilaterally with typical latencies around 10 ms. Similar results were obtained when C₂ splenius nerves were stimulated. The fibers responsible for such excitation are probably group II, since stimuli stronger than 1.8 times threshold of the lowest threshold fibers were needed to evoke excitation. Response decrement was often observed when stimuli were repeated at 1/s, while no such decrement was observed at the rate of 1/3 s.When the convergence of cortical and labyrinthine excitatory inputs was studied, 36% of interstitiospinal neurons received single inputs either from the pericruciate cortex or from the labyrinth, 22% of neurons received convergent excitation from both and the remaining 42% did not respond to either stimulus. Although vestibular branching neurons rarely received labyrinthine inputs, they frequently showed convergence of excitation to stimulation of the frontal cortex, superior colliculus and vestibular nuclei.Supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 477063) from The Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture of Japan     

Afferent and efferent connections of cat omnipause neurons

Summary Afferent and efferent connections of behaviorally identified omnipause neurons involved in saccadic eye movements were investigated electrophysiologically in cats anesthetized with ketamine hydrochloride. Pause cells were polysynaptically excited by electrical stimulation of the optic chiasm (mean latency = 8.3 ms), the visual cortex (mean latency = 7.3 ms), and the superior colliculus (mean latency = 2.6 ms). Bilateral removal of either the visual cortex or the superior colliculus 1 week prior to the experiment abolished optic chiasm responses. Pause cells were antidromically activated by electrical stimulation of the prerubral fields (mean latency = 1.1 ms), or the pontine and medullary reticular formation (mean latency = 1.0 ms). Frequently, the same pause cell was antidromically excited by prerubral and pontine or medullary reticular stimulation indicating that its axon was branched. The spontaneous discharge of pause cells was polysynaptically suppressed by sustained galvanic polarization of either labyrinth, or by multiple shock stimulation in the reticular formation.     

Functional relations between the cortical gustatory area and the amygdala: Electrophysiological and behavioral studies in rats

Summary The functional interconnections between the cortical gustatory area (CGA) and the amygdala were examined by electrophysiological and behavioral experiments in rats. The cortical neurons responsive to taste stimuli applied to the anterior part of the tongue were located in the Vth layer of the agranular insular cortex. Of a total of 27 cortical neurons recorded, 10 showed facilitatory and/or inhibitory responses with the mean onset latency of about 20 msec to electrical stimulation of the ipsilateral amygdala. On the other hand, of 18 amygdaloid neurons responsive to taste stimuli, 13 showed facilitatory and/or inhibitory responses to electrical shocks to the ipsilateral CGA, with a mean latency of about 16 ms. No cortical and amygdaloid neurons sampled responded antidromically to the electrical stimulation. These results suggest the existence of mutual polysynaptic fiber connections between the CGA and the amygdala. The behavioral experiment was performed by means of a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) technique. After acquisition of CTA to sucrose solution by pairing it with an i.p. injection of LiCl which produces sickness, bilateral small knife cuts between the CGA and the amygdala in the perirhinal region disrupted retention of CTA. Thus, these interconnections may play some role in association of taste-related cognitive processes with feeding behavior.     

Sensory responses of intralaminar thalamic neurons activated by the superior colliculus

Summary The intralaminar thalamus of anesthetized rats was explored for neurons activated by stimulation of the superior colliculus and responsive to sensory inputs. Neurons activated by stimulation of the intermediate and deep collicular layers were distributed throughout the intralaminar thalamus. Approximately one half of them responded to tectal as well as sensory inputs. The majority were nociceptive or had a more complex response pattern including responses to auditory stimulation. A smaller population of low threshold units had contralateral orofacial receptive fields and responded to light taps; these units were preferentially localized anteriorly in the central lateral and paracentral nuclei. Neurons responsive to tectal and sensory stimulation were randomly intermingled with other neurons which had no detectable sensory input. The results indicate that ascending projection neurons of the intermediate and deep layers of the superior colliculus provide an input to functionally diverse subpopulations of intralaminar thalamic neurons. In view of its projections to motor cortex and basal ganglia, the intralaminar thalamus appears directly implicated in basal ganglia and superior colliculus related mechanisms of attention, arousal and postural orienting.     

Tectocortical connections in the rat visual system

Electrical stimulation of the superior colliculus by square pulses evokes responses in the ipsilateral occipital region whose localization coincides with the zone of evoked potentials to photic stimulation. The short latent period of the visual cortical evoked potentials to stimulation of the superior colliculus (mean 3.2±1.1 msec; P<0.05) together with morphological data suggests that only one relay, in the structures of the thalamus, occurs along the tectocortical pathway in the rat visual system. In the poorly differentiated cortex of the rat no separate representation of retino-geniculo-cortical and tectocortical channels could be found.Translated from Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal SSSR imeni I. M. Sechenova, Vol. 62, No. 3, pp. 335–341, March, 1976.     

Responses of cat mesencephalic reticulospinal neurons to stimulation of superior colliculus,pericruciate cortex,and neck muscle afferents

Summary Neurons were recorded extracellularly in the mesencephalic reticular formation outside the interstitial nucleus of Cajal in cerebellectomized cats anesthetized with chloralose. Reticulospinal neurons were identified by antidromic stimulation of the upper cervical segments. Stimulation in the deep layers of the ipsilateral superior colliculus evoked firing in 36% of reticulospinal neurons. For many neurons thresholds for activation were high in the intermediate tectal layers and declined as the electrodes entered the underlying tegmentum. However, low threshold points were found above the deep fiber layer within the superior colliculus for some cells. Stimulation of the contralateral superior colliculus excited 10% of neurons and thresholds for activation were high above the deep fiber layer for all neurons. Stimulation of the ipsilateral and contralateral pericruciate cortex excited 39 and 21% of neurons, respectively. The lowest threshold area was found in the frontal eye fields. Sixteen percent of neurons received excitation from neck muscle afferents (C₂ biventer-cervicis) bilaterally. Comparison of responses between mesencephalic reticulospinal neurons and interstitiospinal neurons (Fukushima et al. 1981) showed that responses of the two groups of neurons were similar when the pericruciate cortex and neck muscle afferents were stimulated. However, a difference was observed in tectal responses, since low threshold points were rarely observed above the deep fiber layer for interstitiospinal neurons.Supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 477063) from The Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture of Japan     

Effect of optic nerve stimulation on neurons in pericruciate cortex of cats

The distribution of optic chiasm input to different types of neurons in pericruciate cortex of cats agreed with previous work using light flashes. Neuron response times served to differentiate the input pathways to pericruciate cortex, and the types of neurons they influence. Input from the optic chiasm arrived in three distinct surges: the first via the superior colliculus, the second via an unidentified pathway, and the third via the visual cortex. A fourth, diffuse surge arrived in the postcruciate cortex via some unidentified pathway. Stimulation of the contralateral side of the optic chiasm had a weaker effect than stimulation of the ipsilateral side; it evoked activity at a higher threshold, with fewer spikes per response, and at a longer latency. The difference in response latency between the two sides was largest on neurons responding to the first surge, decreasing in later surges, and being least on those neurons responding to the last surge. About 2.3% of the postcruciate and 15% of the precruciate neurons responded only to optic chiasm stimulation; they were isolated in the granular layers, and their responses could not be influenced by prior cutaneous input. It is suggested that much of the visual input to pericruciate cortex serves to modulate on-going cortical output and, thereby, the behavior of the animal.     

Unit responses of the first and second somatosensory cortical areas to peripheral,thalamic, and cortical stimulation

Unit responses of the first (SI) somatosensory area of the cortex to stimulation of the second somatosensory area (SII), the ventral posterior thalamic nucleus, and the contralateral forelimb, and also unit responses in SII evoked by stimulation of SI, the ventral posterior thalamic nucleus, and the contralateral forelimb were investigated in experiments on cats immobilized with D-tubocurarine or Myo-Relaxin (succinylcholine). The results showed a substantially higher percentage of neurons in SII than in SI which responded to an afferent stimulus by excitation brought about through two or more synaptic relays in the cortex. In response to cortical stimulation antidromie and orthodromic responses appeared in SI and SII neurons, confirming the presence of two-way cortico-cortical connections. In both SI and SII intracellular recording revealed in most cases PSPs of similar character and intensity, evoked by stimulation of the cortex and nucleus in the same neuron. Latent periods of orthodromic spike responses to stimulation of nucleus and cortex in 50.5% of SI neurons and 37.1% of SII neurons differed by less than 1.0 msec. In 19.6% of SI and 41.4% of SII neurons the latent period of response to cortical stimulation was 1.6–4.7 msec shorter than the latent period of the response evoked in the same neuron by stimulation of the nucleus. It is concluded from these results that impulses from SI play an important role in the afferent activation of SII neurons.Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 351–357, July–August, 1976.     

Bilateral reflex effects on phrenic nerve activity in response to single-shock vagal stimulation

The bilateral reflex actions of vagus nerve afferent signals on phrenic efferent activity have been tested by unilateral graded single shock electrical stimulation. An early excitation (latency 3–5 msec) was more prominent in the phrenic nerve contralateral to the stimulated vagus. Spinal cord hemisection at C₃ eliminated both contralateral and ipsilateral responses: thus, both were mediated via descending tracts in the contralateral cord. A bilaterally symmetrical early inhibition (latency 8–12 msec) followed the early excitation. The electrical thresholds for evoking the early responses and the temperature for blocking these responses during graded vagal cooling were closely similar to the threshold and blocking temperature for pulmonary stretch receptor afferents. Higher stimulus strengths evoked a strong, bilaterally similar, late excitation (latency 12–20 msec) followed by a late inhibition. At very high stimulus strengths a third excitation (latency 25–30 msec) could appear. Sometimes these responses were followed by lowered phrenic activity for the remainder of inspiration. Single shock stimulation of the intact vagus nerve or of the peripheral end of the cut recurrent laryngeal nerve provoked. by the contraction of laryngeal muscles, a strong, short latency (12 msec) inhibition of phrenic activity mediated by superior laryngeal nerve afferents. The implications of these results with respect to the reflex pathways of the different responses and their possible integration in the central respiratory control mechanisms are discussed.     

A study of binocular convergence in cat visual cortex neurons

Summary The average latency of cortical neuronal responses to electrical optic nerve (ON) stimulation was 3.0±0.7 s.d. msec. No significant difference between latencies to ipsi- and contralateral ON stimulation was found. Binocularly excitable cells showed almost equal response latencies to stimulation of both nerves. The average latency of subcortically recorded geniculo-cortical fibers was 0.3 msec less, but showed the same variance as that of cortical cells, suggesting that in all cases direct monosynaptic excitation of cortical cells by fibers of either ocularity is possible. Classes of ocular dominance based on electrical stimulation were positively, but not 100% correlated with classes of ocular dominance to visual stimulation. An anatomical study revealed that in cat terminals of geniculo-cortical projection are segregated to a lesser degree into ocularity stripes than in monkey. Direct monosynaptic excitation of cells by fibers of either ocularity which was found physiologically would also on these grounds appear possible for all cells.A preliminary report has been presented at the 46th German Physiological Society Meeting in Spring 1976, Pflügers Archiv, Vol. 362, Abstract No. 155, 1976     

Commissural excitation and inhibition by the superior colliculus in tectoreticular neurons projecting to omnipause neuron and inhibitory burst neuron regions

Previous electrophysiological studies have shown that the commissural connections between the two superior colliculi are mainly inhibitory with fewer excitatory connections. However, the functional roles of the commissural connections are not well understood, so we sought to clarify the physiology of tectal commissural excitation and inhibition of tectoreticular neurons (TRNs) in the "fixation " and "saccade " zones of the superior colliculus (SC). By recording intracellular potentials, we identified TRNs by their antidromic responses to stimulation of the omnipause neuron (OPN) and inhibitory burst neuron (IBN) regions and analyzed the effects of stimulation of the contralateral SC on these TRNs in anesthetized cats. TRNs in the caudal SC (saccade neurons) projected to the IBN region, and received mono- or disynaptic inhibition from the entire rostrocaudal extent of the contralateral SC. In contrast, TRNs in the rostral SC projected to the OPN or IBN region and received monosynaptic excitation from the most rostral level of the contralateral SC, and mono- or disynaptic inhibition from its entire rostrocaudal extent. Among the rostral TRNs with commissural excitation, IBN-projecting TRNs also projected to Forel's field H (vertical gaze center), suggesting that they were most likely saccade neurons related to vertical saccades. In contrast, TRNs projecting only to the OPN region were most likely fixation neurons. Most putative inhibitory neurons in the rostral SC had multiple axon branches throughout the rostrocaudal extent of the contralateral SC, whereas excitatory commissural neurons, most of which were rostral TRNs, distributed terminals to a discrete region in the rostral SC.     

Corticofugal influences on transmission to the dorsal spinocerebellar tract from hindlimb primary afferents

Summary Effects from the cerebral cortex on neurones of the dorsal spinocerebellar tract (DSCT) were examined: I. In group I units (units receiving monosynaptic excitation from group I fibres) repetitive stimulation of the contralateral sensorimotor cortex usually inhibited impulse transmission from the primary afferents. The inhibition had a latency of 10–20 msec and lasted for 82-100 msec or more. Discharges induced by muscle stretch were also inhibited by the cortical stimulation. DSCT units belonging to extensors and flexors were both inhibited from the cortex. In a small percentage of group I units the inhibition was preceded by a shorter-lasting excitation. 2. FRA units (units receiving excitation from cutaneous and/or high threshold muscle afferents) were typically excited by the cortical stimulation. The excitation was often followed by a period of depression of transmission from the periphery. 3. It is suggested from the effective cortical area and experiments with lesions in the medullary pyramid and in the spinal cord that the inhibition in group I units and the excitation of FRA units are both mediated by the corticospinal tract.Experiments were also made to determine the level where the cell body of a given DSCT unit is located, and the results from 56 units are presented.     

Common interneurones mediating cortical and tectal excitation of abducens motoneurones in the cat

Summary Tectal and cortical effects on abducens motoneurones were examined with intracellular recording techniques in cats under chloralose anaesthesia. Abducens motoneurones exhibited disynaptic EPSPs after stimulation of the contralateral superior colliculus and cerebral peduncle. The tectal disynaptic EPSPs were observed invariably in all motoneurones tested, while the peduncular EPSPs were observed only in 40% of motoneurones after stimulation of the contralateral cerebral peduncle. However, the tectal disynaptic EPSPs were consistently facilitated by conditioning pedunclar stimulation in all motoneurones tested. These results indicated that the disynaptic excitatory tecto-abducens and cortico-abducens pathways shared common premotor interneurones. The common interneurones which mediated the tectal and cortical disynaptic excitation of abducens motoneurones were explored in the pons. These interneurones were identified by the criteria that they were fired monosynaptically from both the tectum and the cerebral peduncle and were activated antidromically from the abducens nucleus. Systematic threshold mapping for the antidromic activation in and around the abducens nucleus indicated that they gave off many collateral branches in the nucleus. Such neurones were found in the nucleus reticularis pontis caudalis, being distributed in the area extending 0.8–3 mm rostral to the rostral pole of the abducens nucleus, 1.3–2.7 mm deep from the dorsal surface of the brain stem, and 0.8–1.8 mm lateral from the midline. The present experiments strongly suggest that a group of neurones in the paramedian pontine reticular formation make direct excitatory connexions with abducens motoneurones and play a role of common interneurones that transmit both tectal and cortical commands.     

The auditory corticopontocerebellar projection in the rat: inputs to the paraflocculus and midvermis. An anatomical and physiological study

Summary This study investigated afferent projections to the cerebellum, in particular those from the auditory cerebral cortex. The parafloccular lobule of the rat cerebellum is shown to be a primary target for the auditory cortical information with the midvermal region being a receiving area from the inferior colliculus. The method of anterograde transport of tritiated amino acids was employed to determine projections of the auditory cortex to the pons. Autoradiography showed that the site of termination of efferents from the auditory cortex corresponds to the location of neurons that project to the paraflocculus. Histogram analysis of neuronal activity in halothane anesthetized rats was employed to determine the response characteristics of neurons in paraflocculus and midvermis following cortical and tectal electrical stimulation. In addition, unit recordings of parafloccular neurons in immobilized, locally anesthetized animals demonstrated general characteristics of the responses of these neurons to auditory field stimulation. Electrical stimulation of the auditory cortex evoked mixed, excitatory-inhibitory and pure inhibitory mossy fiber responses in 33% of neurons in the paraflocculus, with no responses evident in the midvermis. Following inferior collicular stimulation, 12.6% of the neurons in the midvermis elicited a response. Recordings from parafloccular neurons in unanesthetized, immobilized rats showed evidence for excitatory and inhibitory mossy fiber responses, following auditory field stimulation. This spectrum of basic studies establishes the existence of a pathway in which the paraflocculus is revealed as an integrating target for cortical auditory information.     

Both striate cortex and superior colliculus contribute to visual properties of neurons in superior temporal polysensory area of macaque monkey

Although the tectofugal system projects to the primate cerebral cortex by way of the pulvinar, previous studies have failed to find any physiological evidence that the superior colliculus influences visual activity in the cortex. We studied the relative contributions of the tectofugal and geniculostriate systems to the visual properties of neurons in the superior temporal polysensory area (STP) by comparing the effects of unilateral removal of striate cortex, the superior colliculus, or of both structures. In the intact monkey, STP neurons have large, bilateral receptive fields. Complete unilateral removal of striate cortex did not eliminate visual responses of STP neurons in the contralateral visual hemifield; rather, nearly half the cells still responded to visual stimuli in the hemifield contralateral to the lesion. Thus the visual properties of STP neurons are not completely dependent on the geniculostriate system. Unilateral striate lesions did affect the response properties of STP neurons in three ways. Whereas most STP neurons in the intact monkey respond similarly to stimuli in the two visual hemifields, responses to stimuli in the hemifield contralateral to the striate lesion were usually weaker than responses in the ipsilateral hemifield. Whereas the responses of many STP neurons in the intact monkey were selective for the direction of stimulus motion or for stimulus form, responses in the hemifield contralateral to the striate lesion were not selective for either motion or form. Whereas the median receptive field in the intact monkey extended 80 degrees into the contralateral visual field, the receptive fields of cells with responses in the contralateral field that survived the striate lesions had a median border that extended only 50 degrees into the contralateral visual field. Removal of both striate cortex and the superior colliculus in the same hemisphere abolished the responses of STP neurons to visual stimuli in the hemifield contralateral to the combined lesion. Nearly 80% of the cells still responded to visual stimuli in the hemifield ipsilateral to the lesion. Unilateral removal of the superior colliculus alone had only small effects on visual responses in STP. Receptive-field size and visual response strength were slightly reduced in the hemifield contralateral to the collicular lesion. As in the intact monkey, selectivity for stimulus motion or form were similar in the two visual hemifields. We conclude that both striate cortex and the superior colliculus contribute to the visual responses of STP neurons. Striate cortex is crucial for the movement and stimulus specificity of neurons in STP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

Analysis of the activity evoked in the cerebellar cortex by stimulation of the visual pathways

Summary In cats without general anaesthesia electric stimulation of the optic chiasma evoked usually in the depth of the cerebellar cortex of lobuli VI and VII a sequence of waves at a latency of 7–10 msec which have been shown to be due to the mossy fibre input. A later wave at a latency of 18–20 msec was also sometimes found in isolation or in association with the early wave. This later field has been identified as due to the climbing fibre input. Unitary recordings have given support to this interpretation. Some correlation has been made with recordings obtained by electric stimulation of the superior colliculus and by flash stimulation of the retinae.It is concluded that the optic pathways project to the visual area of the cerebellar cortex through both mossy and climbing fibre inputs, although from this study based mainly on the laminar analysis of evoked fields, the former input seems to be more widespread and more consistently obtained than the latter.Ibro/Unesco Fellow.Post-graduate student of the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa.     

Effects of monocular deprivation on excitatory and inhibitory pathways in cat striate cortex

Summary The effects of monocular deprivation from contour vision were investigated in the striate cortex of cats. In addition to the receptive field (RF) properties of single cells responses to electrical stimulation of the deprived and the experienced optic nerve were analyzed: Evoked potentials as well as intra- and extracellularly recorded single unit responses were evaluated. The main goals were: 1. to determine to what extent the responses to electrical stimulation reflected the shift in ocular dominance apparent from the RF analysis, 2. to determine the relative effects of deprivation on excitatory and inhibitory responses and 3. to locate the site of impaired transmission in the pathway from the deprived eye. The results show that the responses to electrical stimulation reflect precisely the shift in ocular dominance apparent from the RF analysis. The evoked potentials elicited from the deprived nerve further indicate that deprivation had also affected the afferent system at the LGN level or (and) at the terminal field of the thalamo-cortical fibers. In contrast to the reduction of short latency excitatory responses to stimulation of the deprived nerve, oligosynaptic inhibition with latencies of 4–6 msec was equally well elicited by stimulation of either eye. The same was true for delayed excitatory responses which frequently occur with latencies between 40 and 80 msec after nerve stimulation. It is concluded from these results 1. that transmission between thalamic afferents and inhibitory interneurones in the cortex is less affected by deprivation than transmission in those pathways which relay cortical excitation, 2. that there is another deprivation resistant indirect pathway from the retina to the visual cortex which is probably relayed through mesencephalic structures and 3. that deprivation effects are not confined to transmission failure at the thalamo-cortical synapses but include alterations already at the presynaptic level.     

Sensorimotor cortical representation in the rat and the role of the cortex in the production of sensory myoclonic jerks.

1. After administration of 1,2-dihydroxybenzene (catechol) to anaesthetized rats, rabbits and cats, a reflex jerk consisting of three distinct components was evoked in the limb muscles by peripheral stimulation. The second component of the jerk in the forelimb muscles of all three animals was specifically abolished by lesions confined to the contralateral forelimb sensorimotor cortex. 2. These lesions had no effect on the second response in either the hind limbs or in the forelimb ipsilateral to the lesion. The first and third responses were also unaffected. 3. Lesions in the cat hind-limb cortex abolished the contralateral hind-limb second response, but not the ipsilateral hind-limb or forelimb response. 4. In the rat and rabbit, unilateral hind-limb sensorimotor lesions were ineffective in completely abolishing the second response in the contralateral hind-leg muscles, and in addition, reduced the probability of occurrence of the response in the ipsilateral hind leg. Bilateral lesions abolished the response. 5. Re-investigation of the sensory and motor representation of the hind limb in the rat cortex revealed that this is bilateral in nature. Short-latency cortical responses (ca. 7-0 msec) could be evoked in one cortex by stimulation of either hind paw. The geometric centre of the cortical area from which these responses could be recorded was identical for each hind paw. 6. After catechol injection, stimulation of the cortical surface with single anodal shocks of threshold strength produced responses at similar latency (ca. 8-0 msec) in both hind limbs. 7. The behaviour of the second response after cortical lesions corresponds closely with the pattern of the somatosensorimotor cortical representation. The latency of the response is such as to allow its production by a long-loop cortical reflex, and this possibility is discussed.     

Synaptic organization of the tectal-facial pathways in the cat. I. Synaptic potentials following collicular stimulation

1. The synaptic pathways underlying tectal influence over pinna movements were studied using an acute electrophysiological approach. Under pentobarbital anesthesia, postsynaptic potentials were recorded intracellularly in antidromically identified, cat facial motoneurons following electrical stimulation of the superior colliculus. How collicular topography is reflected in these synaptic potentials was examined using multiple stimulation sites. The pathways responsible for tectally evoked synaptic potentials were studied by making acute brain stem lesions and by intra-axonal horseradish peroxidase (HRP) staining. 2. Monosynaptic excitatory potentials (EPSPs) with latencies ranging from 0.7 to 1.1 ms and amplitudes that were always less than 1 mV were recorded in motoneurons following stimulation of the contralateral superior colliculus. Larger disynaptic EPSPs ranging in latency from 1.2 to 2.0 ms were recorded both in isolation and in association with monosynaptic EPSPs. In addition, disynaptic inhibitory synaptic potentials (IPSPs) with latencies ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 ms were observed, often in combination with monosynaptic EPSPs. Both disynaptic EPSPs and IPSPs were graded, augmented by multiple stimuli and found in all categories of motoneurons. 3. Stimulation of the ipsilateral superior colliculus produced nearly the same spectrum of potentials and latencies as did contralateral tectal stimulation. Occlusion between ipsi- and contralaterally evoked IPSPs suggests there might be a common element in the inhibitory disynaptic pathways. 4. More discrete populations of facial motoneurons were investigated. Specifically, motoneurons innervating the platysma and orbicularis oculi muscles, the intrinsic ear muscles, and muscles that move the vibrissae all displayed tectally elicited mono- and di-synaptic potentials. Collicular input was not restricted to motoneurons involved in orienting the pinnae. 5. The presence, polarity, and amplitude of the synaptic potentials evoked in individual facial motoneurons exhibited variations that were related to the site of stimulation in either the ipsi- or contralateral colliculus. These variations are compatible with the idea that the collicular input to facial motoneurons is topographically organized. 6. Acute lesions at the level of the superior olive indicated that the pathway producing the contralateral monosynaptic EPSPs runs, near the midline, ipsilateral to the target facial nucleus, whereas the contralateral disynaptic and the ipsilateral mono- and disynaptic pathways lie further lateral.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)