Transmission characteristics for the 1:1 linkage between slowly adapting type II fibers and their cuneate target neurons in cat

Abstract

Transmission from single, identified, slowly adapting type II (SAII) tactile fibers to their target neurons in the cuneate nucleus was examined in anesthetized cats. Simultaneous recordings were made from cuneate neurons and from fine, intact fascicles of the superficial radial nerve in which it was possible to identify and monitor the activity of each group II fiber. Selective activation of individual SAII fibers was achieved by means of skin stimulation with fine probes, in conjunction with extensive forelimb denervation. Responses were studied for seven SAII-driven cuneate neurons. For three there was unequivocal monitoring of the identified SAII input fiber. However, in six of the seven there was evidence that just one SAII fiber provided suprathreshold input to the cuneate neuron, and neither temporal nor spatial summation was required for reliable transmission. Cuneate impulse rates, in response to SAII inputs lasting 1 s, were less than 250 impulses per second, even though the SAII impulse rates could be 500 s^-1. Responses to individual SAII impulses consisted of a burst of 2–3 impulses at low SAII input rates, but burst responses disappeared at high SAII rates. In all three SAII-cuneate pairs studied, the transmission security (the percentage of SAII impulses that evoked cuneate spike output) exceeded 80% in response to static skin displacement and in response to certain frequencies of skin vibration, in particular, at 100–200 Hz, exceeded 98% when the SAII fiber responded near the 1∶1 level (one impulse per vibration cycle). Transmission characteristics for the SAII-cuneate linkage resulted in the cuneate neuron showing tight phaselocking of responses to high-frequency (>100 Hz) vibrotactile stimuli and higher impulse rates than its SAII input (up to input rates of ∼50 impulses s^-1). Security of transmission across the SAII-cuneate synapse is similar to that demonstrated previously for tactile fibers of the SAI and Pacinian corpuscle (PC)-related classes, which suggests that there is no marked differential specialization in transmission characteristics for dorsal column nuclei neurons that receive input from different tactile fiber classes. Furthermore, it means that the reported failure of individual SAII fiber inputs to generate conscious sensation in man following intraneural microstimulation is not related to transmission failure at the first central relay.