Descending systems from the brain exert a major influence over sensory and motor processes within the spinal cord. Although it is known that many descending systems have an excitatory effect on spinal neurons, there are still gaps in our knowledge regarding the transmitter phenotypes used by them. In this study we investigated transmitter phenotypes of axons in the corticospinal tract (CST); th...

Descending activity from the brain shapes spinal cord reflex function throughout life, yet the mechanisms responsible for this spinal cord plasticity are poorly understood. Operant conditioning of the H-reflex, the electrical analogue of the spinal stretch reflex, is a simple model for investigating these mechanisms. An earlier study in the Sprague-Dawley rat showed that acquisition of an opera...

Transplants of fibroblasts genetically modified to express BDNF (Fb/BDNF) have been shown to promote regeneration of rubrospinal axons and recovery of forelimb function when placed acutely into the injured cervical spinal cord of adult rats. Here we investigated whether Fb/BDNF cells could stimulate supraspinal axon regeneration and recovery after chronic (4 week) injury. Adult female Sprague-D...

  Background :Preterm birth is a significant global health problem with serious short- and long-term consequences. This study examined the long term effects of preterm birth on vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) among preschool-aged children.   Methods : Thirty-one children with preterm and 20 children with term birth histories aged 5.5 to 6.5 years were studied. Each child underwent...

  Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune systemic disease. Most common autoimmune diseases are multisystem disorders that may also present with otological manifestations, and autoimmune inner ear disease accompanied by vestibular dysfunction. This study aimed to compare the vestibular function between RA patients and normal subjects using cervical vestibular evoked myogenic...

(1) The activity of 136 Deiters' neurons projecting to lumbosacral segments of the spinal cord has been recorded in decerebrate, partially cerebellectomized cats, and their response characteristics to sinusoidal stimulation of labyrinth and neck receptors have been related to cell size inferred from the conduction velocity of the corresponding axons. (2) Vestibulospinal neurons with faster cond...

Twenty-one secondary medial vestibulospinal tract neurons were recorded intraaxonally in the ventromedial funiculi of the C1 spinal cord in decerebrate, paralyzed cats. Antidromic stimulation in C6 and the oculomotor nucleus identified the projection pattern of each neuron. Responses to sinusoidal, whole-body rotations in many planes in three-dimensional space were characterized before injectio...

Neuronal connections and pathways underlying sacculocollic reflexes were studied by intracellular recordings from neck extensor and flexor motoneurons in decerebrate cat. Bipolar electrodes were placed within the left saccular nerve, whereas other branches of the vestibular nerve were removed in the inner ear. To prevent spread of stimulus current to other branches of the vestibular nerve, the ...

In vestibulospinal neurons projecting to the lumbar enlargement, activities were modulated in response to alternate tilts of the caudal body around the vertebral axis. Three types of neurons were found: Type I (37.8%) showed faster firing during the ipsilateral side-down tilt; type II (51.1%) showed the reverse pattern; type III were unaffected. Types I and II may be important in the tonic lumb...