Summary
In cats anesthetized with chloralose, a systematic study of the responses evoked by cortical stimulation in the ventrolateral nucleus has been performed with concentric macroelectrodes and with microelectrodes. Two types of cortical areas have been described: those with ipsilateral effect and those with bilateral effect.
The areas with ipsilateral effect correspond to the cortical projection areas of the ventrolateral nucleus, i.e. the precruciate motor cortex. Short latency spikes (including antidromic responses) were rarely obtained (5% of the cells), while the inhibitory responses followed by a late burst of spikes were obtained for 30% of the cells.
The areas with bilateral effect correspond roughly to the cortical sensory areas. Two types of responses are induced by their stimulation: a short latency spike discharge and a “rhythmic response” characterized by a prolonged hyperpolarization followed by a late burst of spikes, with some tendancy for this sequence to become rhythmic. When considering the whole population of cells recorded, each cortical area is able to trigger the short latency response, the rhythmic response or both together. For the individual cells, there is generally some preferential pattern of response, as seen when comparing the effects of peripheral sensory and cortical sensory stimulation. The possible significance of the bilateral and nervertheless topographic influence from the sensory areas onto the ventrolateral nucleus is discussed, as well as the hypothetical role of the short latency response and of the rhythmic response.
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Dormont, J.F., Massion, J. Duality of cortical control on ventrolateral thalamic activity. Exp Brain Res 10, 205–218 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234733
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00234733