title: Bilateral organization of unilaterally generated activity in lumbar spinal motoneurons of the rat.
abstract: The spinal nucleus of the bulbocavernosus (SNB) is a medially located, bilaterally organized sexually dimorphic motor nucleus in the lumbar spinal cord of the male rat. To begin to assess the potential functional significance of this bilateral organization, we recorded ipsi- and contralateral SNB motor nerve activity following unilateral spinal stimulation and examined the timing, pattern, and recruitment of population motoneuron activity. A possible mechanism for bilateral communication, gap junctional intercellular communication, was also investigated because dye coupling experiments indicate an extensive syncytium in which SNB motoneurons are coupled with each other and neighboring interneurons. An in vivo peripheral nerve recording paradigm was used: a bipolar stimulating electrode was placed on dorsal root L6, and bipolar recording electrodes were placed bilaterally on the SNB motor nerves. All processes were severed distal to electrode placement to isolate the central preparation; recruitment curves of motoneuronal activity were then generated. Amplitude of peak to peak recruitment was greater in the contralateral motor nerve than in the ipsilateral nerve. Response latency, Fourier transform and spike counts showed no evidence of ipsi/contralateral asymmetry. Recruitment was attenuated both ipsi- and contralaterally after pharmacological gap junction blockade, but antidromic stimulation could not drive activity in contralateral motor axons. These results indicate that unilateral input to the SNB may be differentially modulated to produce functionally distinct output in the two separate halves of the nucleus. We also discuss the potential modulatory role of gap junctions in the activity of the SNB.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Program in Neural Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Allison Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: Dale Robert
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Sengelaub
mesh_terms: D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D017629:Gap Junctions / Q000187:drug effects; D006221:Halothane / Q000494:pharmacology; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D008161:Lumbosacral Region; D008297:Male; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D000442:Octanols / Q000494:pharmacology; D009829:Oleic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D000442:Octanols; D009829:Oleic Acids; C029407:oleylamide; D006221:Halothane