Facilitatory interaction in spinal reflex pathways from nociceptive cutaneous afferents and identified secondary spindle afferents in the cat.

Using the technique of spike triggered averaging it could be demonstrated that di- or oligosynaptic EPSPs evoked from single identified secondary spindle afferents in lumbar motoneurones received spatial facilitation from nociceptive cutaneous afferents. This indicates that both types of afferents converge onto common interneurones in the segmental reflex pathways and confirms the assumption that secondary spindle afferents contribute to a multisensorial spinal system for motor control.