[Neuronal response of the primary somatosensory cortex to paired stimulation of the infraorbital nerve and vibrissae of cats].

Extracellular and intracellular response of 128 neurons to paired stimuli applied to the infraorbital nerve and vibrissae were studied in the SI cortical zone of immobilized cats. Conditioning stimulation evoked a complete depression of responsiveness for 10-120 ms in different neurons. Duration of the complete depression of test responses depended on location of stimulated vibrissa in the peripheral receptive field of the neuron. Stimulation of the receptive field centres evoked maximal excitatory and inhibitory actions. Functional significance of spatial decrements of the excitatory and inhibitory responses evoked by stimulation of different points in the receptive field is discussed.