title: Mesencephalic porjections of the rectus lateralis muscle afferents in the cat.
abstract: Responses to passive stretch applied to the rectus lateralis muscle (RL) were recorded with a microelectrode from the mesencephalic nucleus of the fifth nerve (Mes V) in cat encéphale isolé preparation. The necessary conditions to attribute the unit response to an eye muscle stretch are the followings: i) respond neither to jaw movements nor to pressure applied to the eye ball: ii) be activated with a short latency, following stretch of the eye muscles; iii) be excited by a light touch applied to a small area of one eye with a glass rod. The characteristics of the Mes V responses following stretch of the eye muscle are similar to those obtained in a primary afferent fibre from a skeletal muscle. Horseradish peroxidase was injected in the RL muscle of young and adult cats. As a consequence of fast retrograde axonal transport, the tracer was found to accumulate in the corresponding motoneurones of the VI nucleus. In addition, the enzymes accumulation was also found in cells of Mes V corresponding to the somata of RL sensory terminals. Units responding to RL stretchs, and primary sensory neurons labelled by the tracer, were found in the same area of Mes V.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002415:Cats; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000502:physiology*; D009801:Oculomotor Muscles / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D010544:Peroxidases / Q000494:pharmacology; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D012668:Trigeminal Ganglion / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D010544:Peroxidases