Cortical mapping and laminar analysis of the cutaneous and proprioceptive inputs from the rat foreleg: an extra- and intra-cellular study.

The foreleg proprioceptive and cutaneous representations, in the Sm cortex of urethane-anesthetized rats was studied. Natural or electrical stimulations and stretches of single forearm muscles were used. Multiunitary, unitary or intra-cellular recordings were performed in the contra-lateral Sm cortex. The aims of the study were: 1- to compare the proprioceptive and cutaneous maps 2- to analyse the characteristics of the unitary responses and 3- to study the laminar distribution of cutaneous and muscular inputs. It is shown that: 1- the proprioceptive and cutaneous representations overlapped, except in the anterior part where only proprioceptive (mainly articular) responses were obtained. The representation of each stretched muscle extended over the whole cutaneous area, showing a total overlap between inputs from these muscles. 2- 46% of the intracellularly recorded cells (n = 215) responded to peripheral stimulation, and 30.7% were influenced by (at least) muscle stretch. The majority of excited cells showed cross-modal convergence, and among neurons responding to muscle stretch, 60% received inputs from the two muscles stretched. Two categories of EPSPs were found, and four neurons responded to cutaneous or muscular stimulation with a burst. 19% of the responding cells were inhibited by peripheral--mainly cutaneous--stimulation. 3- Excited neurons were recorded in all layers, with just over half located in layer IV, whereas IPSPs were obtained mainly in layer V. The cells excited by cutaneous and muscular inputs (convergent neurons) were preponderant in layers IV to VI. This work shows that the cutaneous and muscular inputs reach the same area in Sm cortex, and that a majority of excited cells are "convergent". The results are not in favor of an area 3a (by analogy with cats and monkeys) in the rat.