Comparative study of sympathetic and parasympathetic discharges in the autonomic nerves during stimulation of different structures of the cat hypothalamus

Simultaneous recordings of hypothalamo-parasympathetic and hypothalamo-sympathetic evoked discharges in anesthetized cats demonstrated that both parasympathetic discharges in the pelvic nerve and sympathetic discharges in the splanchnic nerve of the lowest threshold and shortest latency could be obtained from stimulation of the posterior hypothalamus. The focus of the maximal neuronal activated elicited by stimulation of afferent fibres of visceral nerves and the focus evoking maximal efferent reactions of parasympathetic and sympathetic nerves were located in the same region of the postero-lateral hypothalamus. It is supposed (as a working hypothesis) that convergent polysensory neurons of the hypothalamus are also polyeffector divergent elements of the hypothalamo-visceral reflex system.