ROLE OF BRAIN STEM FACILITATORY SYSTEMS IN MAINTENANCE OF SPASTICITY
- 1 May 1949
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physiological Society in Journal of Neurophysiology
- Vol. 12 (3) , 207-216
- https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.1949.12.3.207
Abstract
The role of brain stem facilitatory systems in the maintenance of the spastic state was studied by observing the effect of their injury in cats with pre-existing spasticity. Lesions of the basal ganglia or upper brain stem did not significantly diminish the spastic state, but frequently led to its increase. Stretch hyperreflexia was considerably reduced by transection of the ponto-bulbar tegmentum and was abolished by additional destruction of the vestibular nuclei. It is concluded that spasticity is maintained by facilitatory influx to the cord, over both reticulo-and vestibulo-spinal tracts, the former being the more important.Keywords
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