Stimulus effects of the medial pontine reticular formation and the mesencephalic locomotor region upon medullary reticulospinal neurons in acute decerebrate cats.

In acute decerebrate cats, medial pontine reticular formation (mPRF) and the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) were stimulated and their stimulus effects upon 250 medullary reticulospinal neurons (RSNs) were studied. One hundred and twenty-six RSNs were mono- and disynaptically activated. From the response patterns of the RSNs, they were divided into the mPRF-activated RSNs (n = 67) and the MLR-activated RSNs (n = 59). The former group of RSNs was located in the nucleus reticularis gigantocellularis (NRGc), while the latter group of RSNs was distributed in both the NRGc and the nucleus reticularis magnocellularis (NRMc). The activity of MLR-excited 12 RSNs was suppressed with the preceding mPRF stimulation. These RSNs were mainly located in the NRMc. Most mPRF-excited RSNs increased their discharge rates during mPRF-evoked suppression of postural muscle tone, and most MLR-excited RSNs increased their discharge rates during MLR-evoked locomotion. With mPRF stimulation, MLR-evoked locomotion was suppressed with cessation of MLR-excited RSNs activity. These results suggest that mPRF stimulation suppresses the activity of the locomotor rhythm generating system at the levels of not only the spinal cord but also the medullary output cells.