Abstract
Composite and unitary EPSPs of red nucleus neurons evoked by stimulation of the sensomotor and association parietal cortex and nucleus interpositus of the cerebellum were studied in acute experiments on cats anesthetized with pentobarbital. A monosynaptic connection was shown to exist between not only the sensomotor, but also the association cortex, and rubrospinal neurons, in which unitary EPSPs appeared during stimulation of the association cortex after a latent period of 1.5–2.7 msec, with a peak rise time of 1.1–3.1 msec and an amplitude of 0.22–0.65 mV. Analysis of the temporal characteristics of the unitary EPSP suggested that synapses formed by fibers from the association cortex occupy a position nearer the soma than synapses formed by axons of sensomotor cortical cells.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
L. L. Voronin, Analysis of Plastic Properties of the Central Nervous System [in Russian], Metsniereba, Tbilisi (1982).
V. L. Gorodnov and V. V. Fanardzhyan, "Cortical synaptic inputs of red nucleus neurons," Dokl. Akad. Nauk Arm. SSR,67, No. 3, 188 (1978).
V. V. Fanardzhyan, Regulatory Mechanisms of Ascending Influences of the Cerebellum [in Russian], Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR, Erevan (1966).
V. V. Fanardzhyan and D. S. Sarkisyan, "Intracellular study of antidromic and synaptic activation of neurons of the cat red nucleus," Fiziol. Zh. SSSR,55, No. 2, 121 (1969).
V. V. Fanardzhyan and D. S. Sarkisyan, "Corticofugal postsynaptic influences on red nucleus neurons," Neirofiziologiya,3, No. 1, 43 (1971).
G. I. Allen, H. Korn, T. Oshima, and K. Toyama, The mode of synaptic linkage in the cerebro-ponto-cerebellar pathway of the cat. 2. Responses of single cells in the pontine nuclei," Exp. Brain Res.,24, No. 1, 15 (1975).
L. T. Brown, "Corticorubral projections in the rat," J. Comp. Neurol.,154, No. 2, 149 (1974).
Y. Fujito, Y. Oda, J. Maeda, and N. Tsukahara, "Synaptic inputs of the red nucleus in the cat. A further study," Proc. Jpn. Acad. Ser. B.,54, No. 2, 65 (1978).
A. I. Karamian, V. V. Fanardzhyan (V. V. Fanardjian), and A. A. Kosareva, "The functional and morphological evolution of the cerebellum and its role in behavior," in: Neurobiology of Cerebellar Evolution and Development, American Medical Association, Chicago (1969), pp. 639–673.
J. S. King, R. M. Dom, J. B. Conner, and G. F. Martin, "An experimental light and electron microscope study of cerebellorubral projections in the opossum,Didelphis marsupialis virginiana," Brain Res.,52, No. 1, 61 (1973).
J. S. King, G. F. Martin, and J. B. Conner, "A light and electron microscopic study of cortico-rubral projections in the opossum,Didelphis marsupialis virginiana," Brain Res.,38, No. 2, 251 (1972).
S. T. Kitai, T. Oshima, L. Provini, and N. Tsukahara, "Cerebrocerebellar connections mediated by fast and slow conducting pyramidal tract fibres of the cat," Brain Res.,15, No. 1, 267 (1969).
M. Mabuchi and T. Kusama, "The cortico-rubral projection in the cat," Brain Res.,2, No. 2, 254 (1966).
N. Mizuno, K. Mochizuki, R. Akimoto, et al., "Projections from the parietal cortex to the brain stem nuclei in the cat, with special reference to the parietal cerebrocerebellar system," J. Comp. Neurol.,147, No. 4, 511 (1973).
F. Murakami, N. Tsukahara, and Y. Fujito, "Analysis of unitary EPSPs mediated by the newly-formed cortico-rubral synapses after lesion of the nucleus interpositus of the cerebellum," Exp. Brain Res.,30, No. 2/3, 233 (1977).
Y. Nakamura and N. Mizuno, "An electron microscopic study of the interposito-rubral connections in the cat and rabbit," Brain Res.,35, No. 2, 283 (1971).
H. Oka and K. Jinnai, "Electrophysiological study of parvocellular red nucleus neurons," Brain Res.,149, No. 1, 234 (1978).
H. Oka, K. Jinnai, and T. Yamamoto, "The parieto-rubro-olivary pathway in the cat," Exp. Brain Res.,37, No. 2, 115 (1979).
H. Oka, K. Sasaki, Y. Matsuda, et al., "Responses of pontocerebellar neurones to stimulation of the parietal association and the frontal motor cortex," Brain Res.,93, No. 3, 399 (1975).
W. Rall, Distinguishing theoretical synaptic potentials computed for different somadendritic distribution of synaptic input," J. Neurophysiol.,30, No. 5, 1138 (1967).
W. Rall, R. F. Burke, T. G. Smith, et al., "Dendritic location of synapses and possible mechanism for the monosynaptic EPSP in motoneurons," J. Neurophysiol.,30, No. 5, 1169 (1967).
E. Rinvik, "The corticorubral projection in the cat. Further observations," Exp. Neurol.,12, No. 3, 278 (1965).
K. Sasaki, S. Kawaguchi, Y. Matsuda, and N. Mizuno, "Electrophysiological studies on cerebello-cerebral projections in the cat," Exp. Brain Res.,16, No. 1, 75 (1972).
K. Sasaki, Y. Matsuda, S. Kawaguchi, and N. Mizuno, "On the cerebello-thalamo-cerebral pathway for the parietal cortex," Exp. Brain Res.,16, No. 1, 89 (1972).
K. Sasaki, H. Oka, Y. Matsuda, et al., "Electrophysiological studies of the projections from the parietal association area to the cerebellar cortex," Exp. Brain Res.,23, No. 1, 91 (1975).
K. Toyama, N. Tsukahara, K. Kosaka, and K. Matsunami, "Synaptic excitation of red nucleus neurones by fibres from interpositus nucleus," Exp. Brain Res.,11, No. 3, 187 (1970).
N. Tsukahara, D. R. G. Fuller, and V. B. Brooks, "Collateral pyramidal influences on the cortico rubrospinal system," J. Neurophysiol.,31, No. 4, 467 (1968).
N. Tsukahara and K. Kosaka, "The mode of cerebral excitation of red nucleus neurones," Exp. Brain Res.,5, No. 2, 102 (1968).
N. Tsukahara, F. Murakami, and H. Hultborn, "Electrical constants of neurons of the red nucleus," Exp. Brain Res.,23, No. 1, 49 (1975).
N. Tsukahara, K. Toyama, and K. Kosaka, "Electrical activity of red nucleus neurones investigated with intracellular microelectrodes," Exp. Brain Res.,4, No. 1, 18 (1967).
Additional information
L. A. Orbeli Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR, Erevan. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 67–74, January–February, 1984.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fanardzhyan, V.V., Gorodnov, V.L. Corticofugal influences on postsynaptic processes in rubrospinal neurons in the cat brain. Neurophysiology 16, 58–64 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01052828
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01052828