AUTONOMIC ACTIVITY AND BRAIN POTENTIALS ASSOCIATED WITH "VOLUNTARY" CONTROL OF THE PILOMOTORS (MM. ARRECTORES PILORUM)

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Abstract
A subject with "voluntary" control of the erection of hairs over the entire surface of his body was studied experimentally. Motion picture records were made of the "voluntary" erection of the body hairs and of the associated pupillary dilatation. Analysis of these and other records of autonomic activity such as heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, electrograms from individual arrectores pilorum muscles, and skin potentials from regions rich in sweat glands revealed that the "voluntary" erection of the body hairs was accompanied by a generalized increase in the activities of the sympathetic nervous system. Simultaneous records of brain potentials from different regions of the head during the "voluntary" erection of the hairs showed that only over the premotor region were there characteristic responses which precede and appear to be associated with the peripheral autonomic changes. This was interpreted as further evidence of the representation of the autonomic nervous system in the premotor area of the cortex.

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