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Responses of cat vestibular neurons to sinusoidal roll tilt

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Summary

Extracellular recordings were made in the lateral and inferior vestibular nuclei of decerebrate, unanesthetized cats. The firing patterns of single units were studied using small amplitude sinusoidal roll tilts of from 0.01 Hz to 1.0 Hz. Three-fourths of the tilt-sensitive units showed greater modulation of their firing rates as the frequency of the sinusoidal tilt was increased. The responses of cells in both nuclei were similar. These responses were virtually unchanged in cats with chronically plugged semicircular canals, indicating a probable otolith origin for the dynamics of the tilt response.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Rockefeller University, New York, USA

    Robert H. Schor

  2. Department of Pharmacological and Physiological Sciences, University of Chicago, 60637, Chicago, Ill., USA

    Robert H. Schor

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  1. Robert H. Schor
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Additional information

Supported in part by grant NS 02619 from the National Institutes of Health.

I wish to thank Vivienne Leon, Barbara Rothar and Susan Wong for their valuable technical assistance. I am especially grateful to Barry Peterson and Victor Wilson for their advice, criticisms and guidance.

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Schor, R.H. Responses of cat vestibular neurons to sinusoidal roll tilt. Exp Brain Res 20, 347–362 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00237380

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00237380

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