Sources of direct excitatory and inhibitory inputs from the medial rhombencephalic tegmentum to lateral and medial rectus motoneurons in the cat

摘要

The paramedian pontine and bulbar tegmentum was explored by microstimulation to outline the sites of origin of direct excitatory and inhibitory inputs to lateral rectus (LR) and medial rectus (MR) motoneurons (MNs). In order to avoid activation of fibers of passage and axon reflexes originating outside the stimulation sites, experiments were carried out 4–22 days after brain stem transections causing degeneration of vestibulo-ocular pathways. Additionally, in some experiments the paramedian tegmentum was isolated from the contralateral side by midline transection