Responses of neurones in the ventrobasal complex of the thalamus to orofacial noxious stimulation after large trigeminal tractotomy.

Single units were recorded, using extra-cellular glass microelectrodes, in the ventrobasal complex of the thalamus of rats under halothanenitrous oxide anaesthesia. The animals had previously undergone a large bilateral section of the trigeminal sensory complex just above the obex to deprive the caudal part of the trigeminal sensory complex (subnucleus caudalis) of its trigeminal afferents. As observed on frontal slices our lesions impaired the whole descending tract and, in most cases, the intratrigeminal pathways between the rostral and the caudal part of the complex. Forty-seven units responding to a somatic mechanical noxious stimulation applied to the trigeminal area were recorded in these conditions. Forty-two of these had a receptive field (or at least a part of it) in or around the oral and nasal cavities, and 5 in the peripheral part of the face. These data confirm the hypothesis that the rostral part of the trigeminal sensory complex participates in pain sensory pathways, as a first relay site between nociceptive primary afferents coming from oral, perioral and perinasal areas, and the ventrobasal complex of the thalamus. In addition, they suggest that the intratrigeminal pathways are not essential for the transmission of these nociceptive inputs, to the lateral thalamus.