Corticofugal influences in the rat on responses of neurons in the trigeminal nucleus interpolaris to mechanical stimulation.
We recorded effects of electrical stimulation of sensorimotor cortex on the responses of 45 neurons in the interpolar trigeminal nucleus to mechanical stimulation of vibrissae. Responses elicited by peripheral mechanical stimulation were enhanced when a neuron's receptive field (RF) included the RF of the cortical stimulating locus, and suppressed when the RFs of the cortical site and the interpolar neuron did not overlap. Several interpolaris neurons influenced by cortical stimulation were shown to project to the cerebellum.
D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000502:physiology; D004525:Efferent Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D005145:Face / Q000294:innervation; D005260:Female; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology*; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D051381:Rats; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D014278:Trigeminal Nuclei / Q000502:physiology*