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Convergence of corticospinal and rubrospinal influences on cervical motoneurons

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Abstract

Synaptic responses of 121 identified cervical motoneurons to stimulation of the pyramidal tract and red nucleus were investigated in cats by intracellular recording. Most responses in motoneurons of distal muscle groups and of proximal flexors were of the EPSP or EPSP-IPSP type, while in motoneurons of the proximal extensors most were of the IPSP type. The minimal effective number of stimuli for most motoneurons was two or three. The mean latency, counted from the first stimulus in the series, for EPSPs was 7. 86 msec in response to pyramidal tract stimulation and 7. 91 msec in response to stimulation of the red nucleus; for IPSPs the figures were 8. 68 and 8. 75 msec respectively. Segmental delay was 1.3–2 msec for EPSPs and IPSPs arising in several motoneurons after stimulation of both structures. This indicates that the shortest path of transmission of activity from fibers of these tracts to motoneurons is disynaptic. The possibility of an additional neuron for most inhibitory pathways cannot be ruled out. The results also suggest that the two systems may share common interneurons.

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  1. Bogomolets' Institute of Physiology, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kiev

    K. V. Baev

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  1. K. V. Baev
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Baev, K.V. Convergence of corticospinal and rubrospinal influences on cervical motoneurons. Neurosci Behav Physiol 6, 25–33 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01186000

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