Behavioural and cardiovascular responses to electrical stimulation of the medulla oblongata of the cat

Effects of stimulation of the nucleus tractus solitarii, the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus, the nucleus reticularis paramedianus, and the nucleus cuneatus were studied in free-moving cats. Stimulation of the medullary nuclei that are known to be involved in the central nervous control of cardiovascular functions might activate preprogrammed motor responses such as licking and sniffing, and induce complex behavioural response patterns such as sleep or flight reaction. Moreover, both lever-pressing for rewarding brain stimulation, and eating in food deprived cats might be modulated by these stimulations. In a shuttle box the cats showed no tendency toward shuttling during stimulation, except the stimulation of the nucleus reticularis paramedianus which produced aversion. The cardiovascular and respiratory effects varied parallel with the behavioural responses. It is concluded that the medullary nuclei related to visceral functions are capable of affecting somatomotor behaviour either directly on the motor system, or by inducing complex response patterns in which somatomotor and visceral responses are integrated.     

The capacitive function of the spleen during electrical stimulation of the structures of the ventral section of the medulla oblongata

In acute experiments on cats under perfusion with constant blood expenditure of hemodynamically isolated spleen the authors studied the reactions of its vessels in the electrical stimulation of ventral brainstem. It was shown that the stimulation of the rostral zone of these structures increased vein outflow from the spleen. It was shown the deterioration of the parametres which characterize a capacitance function of the spleen by stimulation of a causal depressor zone of the brainstem by means of the current of threshold size and its increase by irritation of the brain structures with a 2 threshold current size. There have been made a supposition has been made about the participation of the pointed structures of the brain in the regulation of a vasomotion tonus of the spleen vessels.     

Response of respiratory neurons of the medulla oblongata to the septum stimulation in hypoxia

In the oxygen deficiency conditions, we studied influence of irritation of ventral (BNST), lateral (LSN) and medial (MSN) nuclei of the septum on the impulse activity of the bulbar respiratory neurons and on respiration. Phases of hypoxia were the model of experiment. In conditions of normal atmospheric pressure, the electrical stimulation of BNST, LSN and MSN nuclei of the septum exerted inhibiting as well as activating influence with the inhibiting influence prevailing. In difficult conditions of hypoxia (7.5-8 thousand meters) on the reduction of the impulse activity of neurons, stimulation of septum nucleuses induced uncharacteristic reactions of those neurons.     

GABA transaminase inhibitors enhance the release of endogenous GABA but decrease the release of beta-alanine evoked by electrical stimulation of slices of the rat medulla oblongata

Slices of the rat medulla oblongata were superfused and electrically stimulated. The amount of endogenous GABA, beta-alanine and glutamate release from the slices was determined by high performance liquid chromatography with fluorometric detection. Inhibitors of GABA-transaminase (GABA-T), aminooxyacetic acid (10(-5) M), gamma-acetylenic GABA (10(-4) and 10(-3) M) and gabaculine (10(-5) M), enhanced the stimulus-evoked release of GABA and reduced that of beta-alanine, while no change was observed in the release of glutamate. These changes in amino acid release from the slices were accompanied by an increase in the content of GABA and a decrease in that of beta-alanine. The stimulus-evoked release of these amino acids was abolished by Ca2+-deprivation, in either the presence or absence of GABA-T inhibitors. These results suggest a modulatory role of GABA-T for synaptically releasable GABA and involvement of this enzyme in the synthesis of releasable beta-alanine.     

The pressor zone in the caudal part of the ventral surface of the medulla oblongata

The changes of the vessel resistance of the skeletal muscle and the small intestine perfused with constant blood flow, under electrical stimulation of the ventrolateral medulla were studied on artificially ventilated urethane-anesthetized cats. The stimulation of rostral ventrolateral medulla increased vessel resistance in both regions. The stimulation in a region 2 mm caudal the middle of the rootlets of the twelfth cranial nerves decreased the vessel resistance, but in a region 4 mm caudal the middle of the same rootlets increased the vessel resistance of the skeletal muscle and the small intestine.     

Synaptic responses of medulla oblongata neurons to stimulation of the spinal stepping atria in the cat

Synaptic responses of medulla oblongata (bulbar) neurons to microstimulation of stepping points in the spinal dorsolateral funiculi were recorded in decrebrate cats. Upon stimulation of the stepping point both in the ipsi- and contralateral funiculi, 40% of the neurons generated synaptic responses; the remaining cells responded to stimulation of only one stepping point. A part of the bulbar neurons responds to stimulation of stepping points both at the C₂ and Th₁₂ level. The latent periods of the synaptic responses of the bulbar neurons to stimulation of the stepping point at the C₂ level were in the 2–10 msec range. The data obtained indicate that bulbar neurons, along with propriospinal neurons, can participate in evoking locomotion upon stimulating the stepping point.Institute of Information Transmission Problems, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. M. V. Lomonosov State University, Moscow. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 328–333, May–June, 1991.     

Induction of cell fusion of plant protoplasts by electrical stimulation

When an electric impulse of a few milliseconds was applied topoint-adherence protoplasts isolated from cultured cells ofRauwolfia serpentina through glass capillary microelectrodes,fusion of the protoplasts was immediately induced. This phenomenonseems to be related to transient changes in the membrane state,such as membrane excitation, induced by electrical stimulation. (Received February 22, 1979; )     

Changes in gas composition of expired air during electric stimulation of the ventral medulla oblongata]

The experiments on urethane-anesthetized cats with the electrically stimulated ventral brain stem revealed that caudal ventral medulla at the depth of 1500 microns possesses structures whose electrical activation increases the level of carbon dioxide in arterial blood and in the end portion of expirate, on the one hand, and decreases the oxygen content in expirate and arterial blood, on the other hand.     

Evoked potentials of the medulla oblongata of the skate in response to stimulation of lateral line nerves

The characteristics of the bioelectrical reactions of structures of the medulla oblongata connected with lateral line electro- and mechanoreceptor were investigated in acute experiments on skates under urethane anesthesia. The parameters of the evoked potentials (EP) are characteristic of each of the lateral line nerves studied. A comparison of the characteristics of the fast and slow components of the EP obtained by stimulation of nerves of the medulla oblongata makes it possible to state a hypothesis concerning the presynaptic origin of the fast and the postsynaptic origin of the slow components of the EP. A dependence of the magnitude of the EP on the amplitude of the stimulus and on the location of the active electrode was found. The location of the focus of maximum activity was determined for each of the nerves investigated. A correlation was established between some parameters of the bioelectrical reactions of the medulla oblongata and the morphophysiological properties of the fibers which make up the nerves studied. The results obtained make it possible to assume the presence in the medulla oblongata of spatially arranged structures responsible for the development of the bioelectrical effects in response to stimulation of the lateral line nerves of fish.I. P. Pavlov Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Leningrad. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 284–292, May–June, 1971.