Spontaneous Activity in Gamma Efferents of a Deafferented Spinal Cord Segment
- 1 February 1960
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Frontiers Media SA in Experimental Biology and Medicine
- Vol. 103 (2) , 413-415
- https://doi.org/10.3181/00379727-103-25540
Abstract
Presence was noted of a spiking discharge in filaments of the ventral roots leading from the lumbosacral cord which had been completely deafferented and isolated from descending influences by transection at the L1 level. This discharge was found in cats acutely prepared, in those with the cord severed 7-10 days before cutting the dorsal roots, and in cats with both cord and roots cut 2-30 days before monitoring of activity. The discharge was continuous over periods exceeding one-half hour and was depressed by administration of ether or barbiturates. The small size of these spikes relative to other units that could be made to fire briefly upon touching the cord, classifies them as gamma-sized efferents. This was confirmed by the fact that both rate and irregularity of discharge of spindle afferents in acute isolated-cord preparations were decreased by anesthetization sufficient to suppress central activity. Only a portion of the gamma units available seemed to be firing in these preparations.Keywords
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