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Influence of stimulation of the cerebral cortex on vestibular nuclei units in the cat

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Summary

In cats under subhypnotic doses of a-chloralose and pentobarbital the descending action of circumscribed cortical stimulation on the unit activity in the vestibular nuclei was investigated. From a total of 215 units distributed through the middle areas of the vestibular nuclei, 61 units responded — 59 with facilitation and 2 with inhibition. No discernible relationship between units responding to horizontal rotation and those responding to cortical stimulation was demonstrated. Most responsive neurons within the vestibular nuclei were in the internal part of the triangular and the parvocellular and ventral subdivisions of Deiters' nucleus, whereas its dorsal part and the medial vestibular nucleus were virtually free of cortically excitable units. Stimulation of both ipsilateral and contralateral area 2 pri, on the anterior ectosylvian gyri, and area 6aδ, hidden in the cruciate sulcus, was effective, while stimulation of the surface parts of area 6 and of area 4 was not. This response may be conducted via converging multisynaptic pathways to a midbrain area, possibly to the nuclei of the direction-specific eye and head movements, and from there to the vestibular nuclei.

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  1. Philip L. Gildenberg

    Present address: Cleveland Clinic, 44106, Cleveland, Ohio

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurobiologische Abteilung, Max-Planck-Institut für Hirnforschung, Frankfurt/M.-Niederrad, West Germany

    Philip L. Gildenberg & Rolf Hassler

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  1. Philip L. Gildenberg
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  2. Rolf Hassler
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Postdoctoral Fellow, National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke, National Institute of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.

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Gildenberg, P.L., Hassler, R. Influence of stimulation of the cerebral cortex on vestibular nuclei units in the cat. Exp Brain Res 14, 77–94 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234912

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