ILLUSORY MOVEMENTS PRODUCED BY ELECTRICAL STIMULATION OF LOW-THRESHOLD MUSCLE AFFERENTS FROM THE HAND

Brain ◽  
1985 ◽  
Vol 108 (4) ◽  
pp. 965-981 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.C. GANDEVIA
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Muscle Afferents ◽  
Low Threshold ◽  
Stimulation Of

Central command, but not muscle reflex, stimulates cutaneous sympathetic efferents of cats

1998 ◽  
Vol 274 (5) ◽  
pp. H1552-H1559 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janeen M. Hill ◽  
Marc P. Kaufman
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Blocking Agent ◽  
Muscle Afferents ◽  
Group Iii ◽  
Hairy Skin ◽  
Sympathetic Efferents ◽  
Muscle Reflex ◽  
Decerebrate Cats ◽  
Sympathetic Discharge ◽  
Stimulation Of

We determined the effects of stimulation of the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) and the muscle reflex, each evoked separately, on the discharge of cutaneous sympathetic fibers innervating the hairy skin of decerebrate cats. Electrical stimulation of the MLR was performed while the cats were paralyzed with vecuronium bromide. The muscle reflex was evoked while the cats were not paralyzed by electrical stimulation of the tibial nerve at current intensities that did not activate directly group III and IV muscle afferents. MLR stimulation increased, on average, the discharge of the 23 cutaneous sympathetic fibers tested ( P < 0.05). The muscle reflex, in contrast, had no overall effect on the discharge of 21 sympathetic fibers tested ( P > 0.05). Both maneuvers markedly increased mean arterial pressure and heart rate ( P < 0.05). Prevention of the baroreceptor reflex with the α-adrenergic blocking agent phentolamine did not reveal a stimulatory effect of the muscle reflex on cutaneous sympathetic discharge. We conclude that the MLR is a more important mechanism than is the muscle reflex in controlling sympathetic discharge to hairy skin during dynamic exercise.

Group III muscle afferents evoke reflex depressor responses to repetitive muscle contractions in rabbits

2000 ◽  
Vol 278 (3) ◽  
pp. H871-H877 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Legramante ◽  
G. Raimondi ◽  
C. M. Adreani ◽  
S. Sacco ◽  
F. Iellamo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Arterial Pressure ◽  
Pressor Response ◽  
Muscle Afferents ◽  
Triceps Surae ◽  
Muscle Twitch ◽  
Group Iii ◽  
Twitch Contraction ◽  
Depressor Response ◽  
Stimulation Of

Repetitive-twitch contraction of the hindlimb muscles in anesthetized rabbits consistently evokes a reflex depressor response, whereas this type of contraction in anesthetized cats evokes a reflex pressor response in about one-half of the preparations tested. Rapidly conducting group III fibers appear to comprise the afferent arm of the reflex arc, evoking the depressor response to twitch contraction in rabbits because electrical stimulation of their axons reflexly decreases arterial pressure. In contrast, electrical stimulation of the axons of slowly conducting group III and group IV afferents reflexly increases arterial pressure in rabbits. In the present study, we examined the discharge properties of group III and IV muscle afferents and found that the former (i.e., 13 of 20), but not the latter (i.e., 0 of 10), were stimulated by 5 min of repetitive-twitch contraction (1 Hz) of the rabbit triceps surae muscles. Moreover, most of the group III afferents responding to contraction appeared to be mechanically sensitive, discharging in synchrony with the muscle twitch. On average, rapidly conducting group III afferents responded for the 5-min duration of 1-Hz repetitive-twitch contraction, whereas slowly conducting group III afferents responded only for the first 2 min of contraction. We conclude that rapidly conducting group III afferents, which are mechanically sensitive, are primarily responsible for evoking the reflex depressor response to repetitive-twitch contractions in anesthetized rabbits.

Effects of dorsal column stimulation on primate spinothalamic tract neurons

1976 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 534-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Foreman ◽  
J. E. Beall ◽  
J. D. Coulter ◽  
W. D. Willis
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Dorsal Column ◽  
High Threshold ◽  
Primary Afferent Depolarization ◽  
Spinothalamic Tract ◽  
Lateral Column ◽  
Pain Transmission ◽  
Low Threshold ◽  
Dorsal Column Stimulation ◽  
Stimulation Of

The effect of dorsal column stimulation on spinothalamic tract cells was investigated in anesthetized monkeys. The dorsal column stimuli were applied at midthoracic or at cervical levels of the cord, while the responses of spinothalamic tract cells of the lumbosacral enlargement were examined. A dorsal column volley depressed the activity of spinothalamic tract cells for about 150 ms. A similar depression was observed whether the spinothalamic tract cell was classified as hair activated, low, or high threshold, based on its response properties to cutaneous stimulation. The hair-activated and low-threshold spinothalamic tract cells were initially excited by the dorsal column volley, but often it was possible to demonstrate that a depression could be produced by stimuli which were too weak to cause excitation of these cells. Depression was produced both of the responses of spinothalamic tract cells to electrical stimulation of peripheral nerves and to mechanical stimulation of cutaneous nociceptors. A similar depression was produced by electrical stimulation of large afferents in peripheral nerves.The pathway mediating the depression of spinothalamic tract cells was shown to involve antidromic invasion of collaterals of dorsal column fibers. The best points for stimulation of the cord to produce a depression were over the ipsilateral dorsal column. A lesion interrupting the dorsal column eliminated the depression of cells below the lesion, whereas a lesion of much of the lateral column had no effect.The mechanism of the depression is likely to be complex. Apart from interactions at an interneuronal level, dorsal column volleys can be presumed to collide with sensory input from afferents which project up the dorsal column; collision would interfere chiefly with the responses of hair-activated and low-threshold spinothalamic tract cells. In addition, dorsal column volleys were shown to evoke inhibitory postsynaptic potentials in some spinothalamic tract neurons, and they also produced primary afferent depolarization, at least of large cutaneous afferemts.The excitation of hair-activated and low-threshold spinothalamic tract cells argues against their participation in signaling pain, since dorsal column stimulation in humans does not produce pain at stimulus intensities and frequencies which should activate such neurons. Alternatively, an ascending volley in the dorsal column or in other pathways may interfere with pain transmission in the brain.

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