Responses of Neurons in the Rat Nucleus Submedius to Noxious and Innocuous Mechanical Cutaneous Stimulation

Extracellular recordings were used to characterize responses to cutaneous mechanical stimulation of 78 neurons in the rat nucleus submedius (SM). Thirty-nine of these units were activated by some type of cutaneous mechanical stimulation. Eighteen cells were activated exclusively by noxious stimuli. In 13 of these cells, responses were of swift onset and relatively rapid termination following stimulus application. In contrast, in three neurons responses were delayed both in onset and termination, and in two the response was immediate, but the markedly increased evoked activity outlasted stimulus application by 13 min. Receptive fields (RFs) of these nociceptive neurons were generally large, although none were bilateral. Four SM neurons were activated by innocuous stimuli, but their maximal response was obtained only after noxious stimulation. Responses of all of these neurons were of immediate onset and recovery, and their RFs were large (two were bilateral). Twelve SM neurons were activated maximally by innocuous stimuli. Responses of seven of these cells were immediate in onset and termination, while that of three were delayed in both onset and termination. Two of the 12 innocuous-only neurons quickly became unresponsive to repeated stimulus applications, and could be reactivated only after a rest period during which no stimuli were applied. RFs of these units were also generally large, and in three cases were bilateral. Five SM neurons responded by decreasing, or completely ceasing, their firing subsequent to noxious-only (n = 2), or innocuous-only (n = 3) stimulation. Four of these units had large RFs (two were bilateral). The remaining 39 SM neurons could not be activated by any type of mechanical cutaneous stimulation we tried.

Electrical stimulation of the ventrolateral orbital cortex (VLO) was employed to examine frontal cortical projections of 21 SM neurons. Ten of these units were activated, although all of them synaptically rather than antidromically, and two were inhibited. There was no clear-cut relationship between neuronal location, physiological type, RF site, or VLO stimulation effects among the 39 SM neurons.

These results provide further support for the involvement of SM neurons in nociceptive information signaling, and suggest additionally that the role of the nucleus is not limited to nociception but encompasses a wider range of cutaneous sensations.     

A Possible Mechanism of Blocking of Limbic Motor Seizure Reactions Induced by Activation of the Thalamic Reticular Nucleus

Experiments were directed toward elucidation of the role of the thalamic reticular nucleus (R) in the modulation of generalized seizure reactions under kindling conditions and of the mechanisms mediating the effects of stimulation of the above nucleus on seizure activity. It was shown that activation of the thalamic R in rats limits generalization of the seizure reactions both in the course of development of seizures of limbic genesis (evoked by stimulation of the hippocampus) and under conditions of the existence of a pre-formed epileptic nidus. Tetanic stimulation of the R in cats under conditions of acute experiments induced significant facilitation of IPSPs in thalamo-cortical neurons of the ventrolateral thalamic nucleus. This effect is rather long-lasting and may be considered a mechanism providing blocking of generalized seizures under kindling conditions. Neirofiziologiya/Neurophysiology, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 352–361, July–August, 2005.     

Distribution of Motor Cortical Neuron Synaptic Terminals on Monkey Parvocellular Red Nucleus Neurons

We determined the location of 54 horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-labeled motor cortical neuron synaptic terminals on 17 parvocellular neurons in the monkey red nucleus. Synaptic terminals and their postsynaptic elements were identified and reconstructed, using light- and electron-microscopic techniques, from serial thick and thin sections. Terminals were found on proximal and distal dendrites of small and medium-sized parvocellular neurons, where they formed excitatory synapses. Some were 180 μm from cell somata. Approximately half of the labeled terminals, aside from those located at dendritic origins, were situated strategically at or near dendritic branch points. Since monkey parvocellular neurons show little activity during movement, the obvious next question is this: How and in what way does motor cortex influence these cells?     

大鼠丘脑侧后核到初级视皮层突触传递的短时程可塑性

大鼠丘脑侧后核(lateral posterior thalamic nucleus,LP nucleus)到初级视皮层的突触连接是膝体外视觉通路的重要组成部分.运用场电位记录和电泳的方法在位研究了该视觉回路突触传递的短时程可塑性.结果表明,无论是运用双脉冲刺激还是串刺激都能观察到明显的短时程抑制特性.电泳荷包牡丹碱(bicuculline)和2-hydroxy-saclofen使该抑制作用减弱,电泳钙离子使抑制加强,电泳APV对抑制作用没有明显影响.所以突触前递质释放水平的改变,和γ-氨基丁酸(GABA)能受体（尤其是GABA_B受体）的活动都会影响该回路突触传递的短时程可塑性,而N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸(NMDA)受体则几乎没有作用.该回路很强的短时程抑制特性可能与LP核在视觉注意中的作用有关.     

Asymmetry of Characteristics of the Background Activity of Neurons of the Medial Vestibular Nucleus in Rats After Long-Term Vibration

Using computer analysis, we compared characteristics of the impulse background activity (BA) generated by neurons in the right and left medial vestibular nuclei (MVN) of the rats under control conditions and on the 5th, 10th, and 15th day with everyday 2-h-long sessions of vibrational stimulation. In the control group, the BA frequency generated by left-side MVN neurons was, on average, higher than that in the right MVN (23.6 ± 1.5 and 16.6 ± 1.7 sec^-1, respectively); other main characteristics of the BA demonstrated no significant internuclear differences. Vibrational influences of different durations induced complex significant laterally specific modifications of the level of regularity and dynamic indices of BA generated by neurons of the right and left MVN, of proportions of the cells with different types of distribution of interspike intervals (ISI), and of coefficients of variations of ISI. The mean frequency of background spiking in the right MVN increased about twofold (to 31.6 ± 2.2 sec^-1) after 10 days with vibration sessions, but dropped on the 15th day to 20.6 ± 1.7 sec^-1. In the left MVN, the mean BA frequency monotonically decreased, to 11.6 ± 1.0 sec^-1 after 15 days with vibration sessions. Therefore, chronic vibrational stimulation results in differential shifts of the characteristics of the BA generated by neurons of two MVN and in the formation of a new significantly asymmetrical pattern of such activity. Possible reasons for lateral asymmetry of the impulsation of MVN neurons and modifications of this asymmetry after long-term vibrational influences are discussed. We suppose that such an asymmetry can be one of the factors responsible for the development of motor and autonomic manifestations of vibration-induced motion sickness.     

Evidence for Glutamatergic Projections from the Cochlear Nucleus to the Superior Olive and the Ventral Nucleus of the Lateral Lemniscus

Abstract: This study attempts to determine if projections ascending from the guinea pig cochlear nucleus (CN) could be glutamatergic and/or aspartatergic. Multiple radio frequency lesions were made to ablate the right CN. The ablation was verified histologically. To identify the principal targets of CN efferents, silver impregnation methods were used to localize the preterminal degeneration of fibers in transverse sections of the brainstem 5 and 7 days after CN ablation. CN efferents projected heavily to the lateral superior olive (LSO) ipsilaterally, the medial superior olive (MSO) bilaterally, and contralaterally to the medial (MNTB) and ventral (VNTB) nuclei of the trapezoid body, the ventral (VNLL) and intermediate nuclei of the lateral lemniscus and the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICc). There were smaller projections to the lateral nucleus of the trapezoid body ipsilaterally, the dorsal and dorsomedial periolivary nuclei bilaterally, and the dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus contralaterally. There were sparse projections to the VNLL and ICc ipsilaterally and the CN contralaterally, and a very sparse projection to the contralateral LSO. To determine if CN efferents were glutamatergic and/or aspartatergic, the fresh brainstem was sectioned transversely and samples of the LSO, MSO, MNTB, VNLL, and ICc were taken to measure the electrically evoked release and the uptake of d -[³H]Asp and [¹⁴C]Gly or [¹⁴C]GABA 3–5 days after the CN ablation. The release studies suggest that only certain of the histologically identified projections ascending from the CN may be glutamatergic and/or aspartatergic. CN ablation depressed d -[³H]Asp release in the MSO bilaterally and in the contralateral MNTB and VNLL, suggesting that the CN efferents to these nuclei may use glutamate or aspartate as a transmitter. It was unclear whether a marginal depression of d -[³H]Asp release in the ipsilateral LSO reflected the presence of glutamatergic CN projections to this nucleus. d -[³H]Asp release in the ICc was unaffected, suggesting that CN efferents to this nucleus may not be glutamatergic. There were no deficits in d -[³H]Asp uptake. [¹⁴C]Gly release from the LSO and MSO was unchanged. [¹⁴C]Gly uptake was unchanged in the MSO and depressed only in the contralateral LSO, possibly reflecting subnormal uptake activity in endings contributed by contralateral MNTB cells that had lost their CN efferents. [¹⁴C]GABA uptake in the MNTB, VNLL, and ICc was unchanged. [¹⁴C]GABA release was unchanged in the VNLL and ICc. [¹⁴C]GABA release was depressed only in the contralateral MNTB, possibly reflecting the loss of a small complement of GABAergic CN efferents and the reaction of GABAergic projections from the contralateral VNTB to their loss of CN efferents.     

Effect of Long-Lasting Vibration on the Impulse Activity of Neurons of the Inferior Vestibular Nucleus

We analyzed the impulse background activity (BA) of neurons of the inferior vestibular nucleus (IVN) of rats during exposure to long-lasting vibration (daily 2-h-long sessions). It was demonstrated that 5 days after the beginning of vibration stimulation, practically all main characteristics of the BA of IVN neurons changed significantly. In the studied neuronal group, 10 days after the vibration onset we observed an increase in the mean frequency of the BA and shifts in many statistical parameters of the BA, while after 15 days of vibration only significant modifications of dynamic characteristics of the BA of IVN neurons were manifested.Neirofiziologiya/Neurophysiology, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 32–38, January–February, 2005.     

Evidence for a GABAergic Projection from the Dorsal Nucleus of the Lateral Lemniscus to the Inferior Colliculus

Abstract: This study attempts to determine whether the pathways from the guinea pig dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus (DNLL) to the inferior colliculus (IC) use γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) as a transmitter. Injections of kainic acid (KA) were used to destroy neurons in the left DNLL. Two to 4 days after the injection, Nissl-stained sections through the lesion site showed destruction of the DNLL neurons. The lesions varied in size; 12–100% of the DNLL neurons were destroyed on the injected side without damage to the ipsilateral IC. Two to 4 days after the injection, the electrically evoked, Ca²⁺-dependent release and high-affinity uptake of [³H]GABA were measured in dissected pieces of the left and right IC. These activities were compared with those in the IC taken from unlesioned controls and from sham controls, which received injections of saline instead of KA. Each IC was divided into a dorsal piece, which contained the dorsal cortex and dorsomedial nucleus, and a ventral piece, which contained the central and lateral nuclei. Lesions of the left DNLL depressed the release and uptake of [³H]GABA in the ventral pieces of the IC, but there was a greater depression in the ventral IC contralateral to the lesioned DNLL. There were good correlations between the percentage of neuronal loss in the left DNLL and deficits in [³H]GABA release and uptake activities in the ipsi- and contralateral ventral IC. By contrast, there was no depression of [³H]GABA release and uptake in the dorsal pieces of the IC. The localization of the deficits in release and uptake appears to match the distribution of the synaptic endings of the DNLL pathways in the IC. This correspondence associates GABA release and uptake activities with the DNLL projections to the IC and, therefore, suggests that GABA may be a transmitter of these pathways. The release and uptake of [¹⁴C]glycine was also measured to determine whether glycine might be a transmitter of the DNLL pathways to the IC. Lesions of the left DNLL failed to alter the Ca²⁺-dependent release or the uptake of [¹⁴C]glycine, suggesting that DNLL neurons are unlikely to use this compound as a transmitter.     

A Bioluminescence Method for the Measurement of l-Glutamate: Applications to the Study of Changes in the Release of l-Glutamate from Lateral Geniculate Nucleus and Superior Colliculus After Visual Cortex Ablation in Rats

We have developed a rapid, simple, specific, and very sensitive bioluminescence method for the measurement of L-glutamate (L-Glu). Oxidation of L-Glu by glutamate dehydrogenase has been coupled with bacterial FMN reductase and luciferase. Light production (i.e., peak height or integral) was linear from less than 0.5 to 500 pmol of L-Glu. Potential interfering substances that may be encountered in brain tissue have been identified. The most potent inhibitors were ascorbate and the biogenic amines. Procedures that conferred long-term stability of the reagent mixture (greater than 8 h) were established. Bioluminescence analysis of L-Glu content in brain tissue extracts, fractions from release experiments, and human CSF corroborated respective results obtained by HPLC analysis. In this study, we have applied the method to monitor changes in the KCl-evoked release of endogenous L-Glu from milligram amounts of brain tissue, i.e., from lateral geniculate nucleus and superior colliculus after visual cortex ablation.