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Analysis of electrical potentials evoked in the cerebellar anterior lobe by stimulation of hindlimb and forelimb nerves

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Summary

Responses were evoked in the anterior lobe of the cerebellum by volleys in group I and II fibers of forelimb and hindlimb nerves — cutaneous, muscular, joint and fascial. These responses have been observed along microelectrode tracks that traverse the whole depth of the anterior lobe. These tracks have been identified in histological sections, and the recording sites along these tracks have been determined.

It has been shown that there are many distinguishing features for the responses produced by the two types of afferent input to the cerebellum: climbing fibers and mossy fibers.

The depth profiles are of particular importance in the differentiation of the CF and MF responses, and they correspond to those already determined for the exposed surface areas of the cerebellar cortex. As would be expected from the distribution of synapses by the CF fibers to the Purkinje cell dendrites, there is a maximum extracellular negativity deep in the molecular layer with sources superficial and deep thereto.

In contrast, the mossy fiber input produces a powerful synaptic excitation in the granular layer, which is recorded there as a negative wave (N2). The mossy fiber input by sequential relay also produces a negative wave (N3) in the molecular layer. This wave is distinguished from the CF-evoked negative wave because it is not reversed in the fissura and the adjacent superficial molecular layer.

An important distinguishing feature of the MF- and CF-evoked responses is that the latencies of the former are shorter by 6–12 msec for forelimb nerves and by 9–15 msec for hindlimb nerves. It is thus possible to measure the sizes of the MF and CF responses in the same traces.

Another distinguishing feature is the failure of the CF responses with stimulus frequencies of 5–15/sec, whereas the MF-evoked potentials are well maintained above 15/sec. Also CF-evoked responses show much more size and latency variance than the MF-evoked responses, and often the facilitation of two or three volleys is required in order to evoke a stable CF response.

By utilizing these various tests it is always possible to distinguish between the CF- and the MF-evoked responses recorded along the microelectrode tracks in the anterior lobe.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. AMA/ERF Institute for Biomedical Research, Chicago, Ill., USA

    J. C. Eccles,  L. Provini,  P. Strata &  H. Táboříková

  2. Faculty of Health Science, State University of New York, 14214, Buffalo, N.Y.

    J. C. Eccles &  H. Táboříková

  3. Laboratory of Physiology University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    L. Provini

  4. Instituto di Fisiologia dell'Università di pisa, Via S. Zeno, 31, 56100, Pisa, Italy

    P. Strata

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  1. J. C. Eccles
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  2. L. Provini
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  3. P. Strata
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  4. H. Táboříková
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The authors wish to express their grateful thanks to Mr. Lionel M. Davies who was responsible for the re-installation of Canberra equipment in Chicago and for its operational servicing.

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Eccles, J.C., Provini, L., Strata, P. et al. Analysis of electrical potentials evoked in the cerebellar anterior lobe by stimulation of hindlimb and forelimb nerves. Exp Brain Res 6, 171–194 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235123

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