Abstract
In decerebrate cats, rotation about the longitudinal axis of the whole animal at 0.15 Hz,±10° produced an increased electromyogram (EMG) activity of the triceps brachii during side-down tilt and a decreased activity during side-up tilt. This vestibulospinal reflex (VSR) was tested before, during and after a sustained (3-h) period of roll tilt of the head at the parameters indicated above, associated with a synchronous roll tilt of the body at 0.15 Hz, but at the peak amplitude of either 12.5° or 7.5°. This additional stimulus led to 2.5° of neck rotation, which was respectively out of phase (condition A) or in-phase (condition B) with head rotation. In a few instances the peak amplitude of neck rotation was increased to 5°. In the first experimental condition A, the gain of the VSR (tested every 10–15 min) progressively increased, starting from the first hour of out of phase neck-vestibular stimulation to reach, on average, 241% of the control value at the end of the third hour of stimulation. On the other hand, in the second experimental condition B, the mean gain of the VSR first decreased to 82% during the first hour of in-phase neck-vestibular stimulation, but then increased to 165% of the corresponding control during the last hour of recording. In other experiments an adaptive increase in gain of the pure VSR occurred during a sustained (3-h) period of selective roll tilt of the whole animal, but it was less consistent and, on average, smaller in amplitude than that obtained during out of phase neck-vestibular stimulation.
The adaptive changes in gain of the VSR described above were not associated with changes in the phase angle of the responses, and were also observed during the post-adaptation period. Further experiments indicated that the gain of the N-VSR, i. e. of the EMG responses to combined neck-vestibular stimulation, displayed a prominent adaptive increase during the sustained out of phase stimulation, but not during the inphase stimulation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andre P, d'Ascanio P, Manzoni D, Pompeiano O (1992) Depression of the vestibulospinal reflex by intravermal microinjection of GABA A and GABA B agonists in decerebrate cats. Pflügers Arch 420: R 159
Andre P, d'Ascanio P, Manzoni D, Pompeiano O (1992) Adaptive modification of the vestibulospinal reflex (VSR) during sustained vestibular and neck stimulation in the cat. Pflügers Arch 421: R 13
Barmack NH, Baughman RW, Errico P, Shojaku H (1993) Vestibular primary afferent projection to the cerebellum of the rabbit. J Comp Neural 327: 521–534
Berthoz A, Anderson JH (1972) Frequency analysis of vestibular influence on extensor motoneurons. III. Neck and forelimb motor unit activity after hemilabyrinthectomy. Brain Res 45: 236–240
Boyle R, Pompeiano O (1981) Convergence and interaction of neck and macular vestibular inputs on vestibulospinal neurons. J Neurophysiol 45: 852–868
Brodai A, H0ivik B (1964) Site and termination of primary vestibulocerebellar fibres in the cat. An experimental study with silver impregnation methods. Arch Ital Biol 102: 1–21
Collewijn H, Grootendorst AF (1978) Adaptation of the rabbit's vestibulo-ocular reflex to modified visual input: importance of stimulus conditions. Arch Ital Biol 116: 273–280
Corvaja N, Pompeiano O (1979) Identification of cerebellar corticovestibular neurons retrogradely labeled with horseradish peroxidase. Neuroscience 4: 507–515
Denoth F, Magherini PC, Pompeiano O, Stanojević M (1979) Responses of Purkinje cells of the cerebellar vermis to neck and macular vestibular inputs. Pflügers Arch 381: 87–98
Denoth F, Magherini PC, Pompeiano O, Stanojević M (1980) Responses of Purkinje cells of cerebellar vermis to sinusoidal rotation of neck. J Neurophysiol 43: 46–59
Ezure K, Wilson VJ (1983) Dynamics of neck-to-forelimb reflexes in the decerebrate cat. J Neurophysiol 50: 688–695
Ezure K, Wilson VJ (1984) Interaction of tonic neck and vestibular reflexes in the forelimb of the decerebrate cat. Exp Brain Res 54: 289–292
Graf W, Simpson JI, Leonard CS (1988) The spatial organization of visual messages to the flocculus of the rabbit's cerebellum. II. Complex and simple spikes responses of Purkinje cells. J Neurophysiol 60: 2091–2121
Ito M (1982) Cerebellar control of the vestibulo-ocular reflex-around the flocculus hypothesis. Annu Rev Neurosci 5: 275–296
Ito M (1984) The cerebellum and neural control. Raven Press, New York, pp XVII-580
Ito M, Shiida T, Yagi N, Yamamoto M (1974) The cerebellar modification of rabbit's horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex induced by sustained head rotation combined with visual stimulation. Proc Jpn Acad 50: 85–89
Ito M, Shiida T, Yagi N, Yamamoto M (1974) Visual influence on rabbit horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex presumably effected via the cerebellar flocculus. Brain Res 65: 170–174
Ito M, Jastreboff PJ, Miyashita Y (1979) Adaptive modification of the rabbit's horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex during sustained vestibular and optokinetic stimulation. Exp Brain Res 37: 17–30
Ito M, Jastreboff PJ, Miyashita Y (1982) Specific effects of unilateral lesions in the flocculus upon eye movements in albino rabbits. Exp Brain Res 45: 33–242
Ito M, Lisberger SG, Sejnowski TJ (1993) Cerebellar flocculus hypothesis. Nature 363: 24–25
Lindsay KW, Rosenberg JR (1977) Tonic labyrinth reflexes in the forelimb of the acute and chronic hemilabyrinthectomized cat. J Physiol (Lond) 275: 43–44 P
Lindsay KW, Roberts TDM, Rosenberg JR (1976) Asymmetric tonic labyrinth reflexes and their interaction with neck reflexes in the decerebrate cat. J Physiol (Lond) 261: 583–601
Lorente de No R (1933) Vestibulo-ocular reflex arc. Arch Neurol Psychiatry 30: 245–291
Lund S, Pompeiano O (1968) Monosynaptic excitation of alpha motoneurones from supraspinal structures in the cat. Acta Physiol Scand 73: 1–21
Manzoni D, Pompeiano O, Srivastava UC, Stampacchia G (1983) Responses of forelimb extensors to sinusoidal stimulation of macular labyrinth and neck receptors. Arch Ital Biol 121: 205–214
Marchand AR, Manzoni D, Pompeiano O, Stampacchia G (1987) Effects of stimulation of vestibular and neck receptors on Deiters neurons projecting to the lumbosacral cord. Pflügers Arch 409: 13–23
Nagao S (1983) Effects of vestibulocerebellar lesions upon dynamic characteristics and adaptation of vestibulo-ocular and optokinetic responses in pigmented rabbits. Exp Brain Res 53: 36–46
Nagao S (1992) Role of cerebellar flocculus in adaptive gain control of the vestibulo-ocular reflex. In: Sbimazu H, Shinoda Y (eds) Vestibular and brain stem control of eye, head and body movements. Japan Scientific Societies Press, Tokyo, pp 439–449
Neerven J van, Pompeiano O, Collewijn N (1989) Depression of the vestibulo-ocular and optokinetic responses by intrafloccular microinjection of GABA-A and GABA-B agonists in the rabbit. Arch Ital Biol 127: 243–263
Pompeiano O (1975) Macular input to neurons of the spinoreticulocerebellar pathway. Brain Res 95: 351–368
Pompeiano O, Horn E, d'Ascanio P (1991) Locus coeruleus and dorsal pontine reticular influences on the gain of vestibulospinal reflexes. In: Barnes CD, Pompeiano O (eds) Progress in brain research, vol 88. Neurobiology of the locus coeruleus. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 435–462
Schaefer K-P, Meyer DL (1981) Aspects of vestibular compensation in guinea pigs. In: Flohr H, Precht W (eds) Lesion-induced neuronal plasticity in sensorimotor systems. Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 197–207
Schor RH, Miller AD (1981) Vestibular reflexes in neck and forelimb muscles evoked by roll tilt. J Neurophysiol 46: 167–178
Schor RH, Miller AD (1982) Relationship of cat vestibular neurons to otolith-spinal reflexes. Exp Brain Res 47: 137–144
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Andre, P., d'Ascanio, P., Manzoni, D. et al. Adaptive modification of the cat's vestibulospinal reflex during sustained vestibular and neck stimulation. Pflugers Arch. 425, 469–481 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00374874
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00374874