Discharge properties of hindlimb motoneurons in decerebrate cats during locomotion induced by mesencephalic stimulation.

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Abstract
Firing patterns of 93 hindlimb motoneurons were recorded from ventral root filaments in decrebrate cats during treadmill locomotion evoked by repetitive electrical stimulation of the mesencephalic locomotor region. The preferred firing rate of a given hindlimb motoneuron does not change under various conditions of controlled locomotion. This constancy may appear to be in contradiction with the presumed increase in discharge rate that should ensue when the motoneuronal pool is subjected to high synaptic drive, as probably occurs with larger stimulus amplitudes to the mesencephalic locomotory region. This relative constancy in steady firing rate might be due to extrinsic feedback mechanisms controlling motoneuronal firing.