Abstract
Activity of propriospinal neurons in segments C3 and C4 was recorded in immobilized decerebrate cats, whose spinal cord was divided at the lower thoracic level, during locomotor activity of neuronal mechanisms controlling the forelimbs (fictitious locomotion of the forelimbs). Neurons were identified according to antidromic responses to stimulation of the lateral column of the spinal cord at level C6. Antidromic responses also appeared in 70% of these neurons to stimulation of the medullary lateral reticular nucleus. During fictitious locomotion, i.e., in the absence of afferent signals from the limb receptors, rhythmic modulation of the discharge of most neurons was observed, correlating with activity of motoneurons. If the rostral region of the cervical enlargement of the spinal cord was cooled, causing generation of the locomotor rhythm to cease, rhythmic activity of propriospinal neurons in segments C3 and C4 also ceased. The main source of modulation of activity of propriospinal neurons in segments C3 and C4 is thus the central spinal mechanisms controlling activity of the forelimbs.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature cited
Yu. I. Arshavskii, M. B. Berkinblit, I. M. Gel'fand, et al., "Unit activity in the ventral spinocerebellar tract during locomotion by cats with deafferented hind limbs," Biofizika,17, No. 6, 1113 (1972).
Yu. I. Arshavskii, I. M. Gel'fand, G. N. Orlovskii, and G. A. Pavlova, "Unit activity in the ventral spinocerebellar tract during fictitious scratching," Biofizika,20, No. 4, 748 (1975).
Yu. I. Arshavskii, I. M. Gel'fand, G. N. Orlovskii, and G. A. Pavlova, "Unit activity in the lateral reticular nucleus during scratching," Biofizika,22, No. 1, 177 (1977).
N. N. Budakova and M. L. Shik, "Stepping movements of the forelimbs and the Schiff-Sherrington phenomenon," Byull. Eksp. Biol. Med.,77, No. 3, 6 (1974).
G. N. Orlovskii, "On the influence of the cerebellum on reticulospinal neurons during locomotion," Biofizika,15, No. 5, 894 (1970).
G. N. Orlovskii, F. V. Severin, and M. L. Shik, "Locomotion evoked by mesencephalic stimulation," Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR,169, No. 5, 1223 (1966).
N. Kh. Pogorelaya and V. N. Tarusina, "Experimental morphological study of endings of propriospinal fibers of the lateral column in the cervical region of the cat spinal cord," Neirofiziologiya,6, No. 1, 44 (1974).
M. L. Shik, F. V. Severin, and G. N. Orlovskii, "Control of walking and running by electrical stimulation of the mesencephalon," Biofizika,11, No. 5, 659 (1966).
B. Alstermark, S. Lindström, A. Lundberg, and R. Sybirska, "Integration in descending motor pathways controlling the forelimb in the cat. 8. Ascending projection to the lateral reticular nucleus from C3–C4 propriospinal neurons also projecting to forelimb motoneurons," Exp. Brain Res.,42, No. 2, 282 (1981).
Yu. I. Arshavskii (Yu. I. Arshavsky), I. M. Gel'fand, G. N. Orlovskii (G. N. Orlovsky), and G. A. Pavlova, "Messages conveyed by spinocerebellar pathways during scratching in the cat. 1. Activity of neurons of the lateral reticular nucleus," Brain Res.,151, No. 3, 479 (1978).
Yu. I. Arshavskii (Yu. I. Arshavsky), I. M. Gel'fand, G. N. Orlovskii (G. N. Orlovsky), and G. A. Pavlova, "Messages conveyed by spinocerebellar pathways during scratching in the cat. 2. Activity of neurons of the ventral spinocerebellar tract," Brain Res.,151, No. 3, 493 (1978).
Yu. I. Arshavskii (Yu. I. Arshavsky), I. M. Gel'fand, G. N. Orlovskii (G. N. Orlovsky), and G. A. Pavlova, "Messages conveyed by descending tracts during scratching in the cat. 1. Activity of vestibulospinal neurons," Brain Res.,159, No. 1, 99 (1978).
Yu. I. Arshavskii (Yu. I. Arshavsky), I. M. Gel'fand, G. N. Orlovskii (G. N. Orlovsky), et al., "Origin of signals conveyed by the ventral spinocerebellar tract and spinoreticulocerebellar pathway," Exp. Brain Res.,54, No. 3, 426 (1984).
Yu. I. Arshavskii (Yu. I. Arshavsky), G. N. Orlovskii (G. N. Orlovsky), G. A. Pavlova, and C. Perret, "Messages conveyed by descending tracts during scratching in the cat. II. Activity of rubrospinal neurons," Brain Res.,159, No. 1, 111 (1978).
M. Clendenin, C.-F. Ekerot, O. Oscarsson, and I. Rosen, "The lateral reticular nucleus in the cat. 1. Mossy fibre distribution in cerebellar cortex," Exp. Brain Res.,21, No. 4, 473 (1974).
M. Clendenin, C.-F. Ekerot, O. Oscarsson, and I. Rosen, "The lateral reticular nucleus in the cat. 2. Organization of component activated from bilateral ventral flexor reflex tract (bVFRT)," Exp. Brain Res.,21, No. 4, 487 (1974).
M. Clendenin, C.-F. Ekerot, and O. Oscarsson, "The lateral reticular nucleus in the cat. 3. Organization of component activated from ipsilateral forelimb tract," Exp. Brain Res.,21, No. 4, 501 (1974).
M. Illert, A. Lundberg, Y. Padel, and R. Tanaka, "Integration in descending motor pathways controlling the forelimb in the cat. 5. Properties of and monosynaptic excitatory convergence on C3–C4 propriospinal neurons," Exp. Brain Res.,33, No. 1, 101 (1978).
A. Lundberg, "Integrative significance of patterns of connections made by muscle afferents in the spinal cord," in: Symposium Lectures of XXI International Congress of Physiological Sciences, Buenos Aires (1959), pp. 100–105.
A. Lundberg, "Function of the ventral spinocerebellar tract. A new hypothesis," Exp. Brain Res.,12, No. 3, 317 (1971).
A. Lundberg, "Integration in a propriospinal motor centre controlling the forelimb in the cat," in: Integration in the Nervous System, ed. H. Asanuma and V. J. Wilson, Tokyo and New York (1979), pp. 47–64.
A. Lundberg and O. Oscarsson, "Two ascending spinal pathways in the ventral part of the cord," Acta Physiol. Scand.,54, Nos 3/4, 270 (1962).
G. N. Orlovskii (G. N. Orlovsky), "Activity of vestibulospinal neurons during locomotion," Brain Res.,46, No. 1, 85 (1972).
G. N. Orlovskii, "Activity of rubrospinal neurons during locomotion," Brain Res.,46, No. 1, 99 (1972).
O. Oscarsson, "Functional organization of spinocerebellar path," in: Handbook of Sensory Physiology, ed. A. Iggo, Vol. 2, Springer, Berlin (1973), pp. 339–380.
T. Yamaguchi, "Activities of forelimb motoneurons during fictive stepping in decerebrate cats," J. Physiol. Soc. Jpn.,44, No. 4, 387 (1982).
Additional information
Institute for Problems in Information Transmission, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. M. V. Lomonosov Moscow University. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 320–326, May–June, 1985.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arshavskii, Y.I., Meizerov, E.S., Orlovskii, G.N. et al. Activity of propriospinal neurons in segments C3 and C4 during fictitious locomotion in cats. Neurophysiology 17, 226–231 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01052458
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01052458