Summary
In immobilized pigmented rabbits anesthetized with N2O (70%) and halothane (2–4%), extracellular spikes were recorded from neurons in the nucleus reticularis tegmenti pontis (NRTP) and their responses to optokinetic stimulation (OKS) were examined. OKS was delivered using constant-velocity (0.1–4.0°/s) movements of a random dot pattern (60° × 60°) at 0°, 45°, 90° or 135° to the horizon. With OKS delivered to the contralateral eye (n=43), the preferred directions of NRTP cells were forward (F, n = 10), backward (B, n = 7), downward (D, n = 5), and the remaining cells showed no response (N, n = 21). With OKS delivered to the ipsilateral eye (n = 43), the preferred directions were F (n = 8), B (n = 8), upward (U, n = 2), D (n= 1) and N (n = 24). The majority of cells which responded to OKS (17/22 for contralateral, and 16/19 for ipsilateral OKS) preferred the horizontal orientation. The optimum velocity ranged from 0.2 to l°/s. The results suggest that the NRTP cells mainly transfer horizontal optikinetic signals to the flocculus and control horizontal optokinetic eye movements.
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Kano, M., Iino, K., Maekawa, K. et al. Optokinetic response of cells in the nucleus reticularis tegmenti pontis of the pigmented rabbit. Exp Brain Res 87, 239–244 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00231840
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00231840