Activity of Spinal Trigeminal Pars Oralis and Adjacent Reticular Formation Unitsduring Differential Conditioning of the Rabbit Nictitating Membrane Response

摘要

Spinal trigeminal nucleus pars oralis (SpoV) is anatomically linked to braincircuitry thought to subserve unconditioned and conditioned nictitating membrane responses in rabbits. Single unit recordings from SpoV and adjacent reticular formation obtained during conditioning from awake, behaving animals revealed modulation of unit firing related to CS, US, and CR occurrence. SpoV participates directly in the unconditioned response and probably relays US information to other brain areas subserving conditioning. The presence of CR related activity suggests that SpoV may participate in the CR motor output pathway, and may also provide CR-related information to the cerebellum. Sensory convergence and CR related activity in reticular formation mark this structure as a candidate locus of primary neuronal plasticity in this example of conditioning.