title: Lateral asymmetry of H-reflex recovery curves in cat: evidence for a spinal motor asymmetry.
abstract: Recovery curve of the Hoffmann reflex from the left and right sides was studied in lightly anesthetized cats before and after spinalization. According to the differences in the H-reflex recovery curves from the left and right lateral gastrocnemiussoleus nerves, three populations of intact animals were found: right dominant with higher recovery curve on the right side (31.8%), left dominant with higher recovery curve on the left side (36.4%), and ambilateral with no dominance (31.8%). After spinalization the dominance remained the same in the two first groups and dominance appeared in 5 out of the 7 cats of the last group. These results provide evidence for a bilateral asymmetry of alpha motoneuron excitability in cats, which can be used as a model to study the possible mechanisms of spinal motor asymmetry.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000870:Anterior Horn Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D002415:Cats; D003655:Decerebrate State / Q000503:physiopathology; D007839:Functional Laterality; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D012023:Reflex, Monosynaptic; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000502:physiology*