The Nature of the Movements Elicited by Electrical Stimulation of the Diencephalon

Abstract

In our previously published analysis of motor effects the entire material was divided into three groups, depending on the type of musculature involved (face, extremities, or axial musculature) [2–4]. We shall retain this division, which was employed to achieve clarity of presentation, and shall now examine more closely the “motor innervation patterns,” starting with the axial muscles, i.e., body, head, and eyeballs, with regard to quality and character. Because extensive film material was available, it was possible to achieve a degree of accuracy in the analysis of the movements equivalent to that of the histological localization of stimulation sites. The results of 12 years of experimental work, recorded pictorially, are now available for systematic analysis. In spite of the considerable flexibility offered by cinematographic records, the extensive and exceptionally varied material remained quite difficult to process. No memory can retain all the essential details. Hence, it was necessary to arrange the results of the analysis thematically with text and graphic illustrations and to supplement these data with a vast number of photographs from the film. This enabled us to study and compare the individual cases from every angle and to detect contrasts between them. By selecting individual sections of the film for further study, a documentation was produced which revealed the principles underlying the manifold stimulus phenomena.

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