Hypoglossal premotor neurons with rhythmical inspiratory-related activity in the cat: localization and projection to the phrenic nucleus.

Localization and projection to the phrenic (PH) nucleus were studied in a sample of premotor neurons that directly projected to hypoglossal motoneurons (XII Mns) and showed respiratory-related patterns of activity. The experiments were carried out in cats, under pentobarbital anesthesia. In the first part of the study, the retrograde double-labeling technique was used to reveal the existence of neurons projecting to both the XII and the PH nuclei. Injection of a fluorescent dye (fast blue, FB) into the XII nucleus and another (nuclear yellow, NY) into the PH nucleus retrogradely labeled, with either FB or NY, medullary reticular neurons mainly in the regions ventrolateral to the nucleus of the tractus solitarius (vl-NTS), ventrolateral to the hypoglossal nucleus (vl-XII), and dorsomedial to the nucleus ambiguus (dm-AMB) bilaterally. In addition, some neurons in these regions were labeled with both FB and NY. In the second part of the study, unitary activity was recorded extracellularly from medullary respiratory neurons. In the regions vl-NTS, vl-XII, and dm-AMB, inspiratory neurons were found which antidromically responded to stimulation of the XII nucleus. Some of them also responded antidromically to stimulation of the PH nucleus. Averaging of rectified and integrated XII and PH nerve discharges by spontaneous spikes of single inspiratory neurons in the vl-NTS and dm-AMB regions revealed a facilitation in either XII nerve discharge or both XII and PH nerve discharges after a short latency of monosynaptic range. It is concluded that in the vl-NTS and dm-AMB regions there are inspiratory neurons that are excitatory premotor neurons projecting to XII Mns showing the respiratory-related activity. Some of them have excitatory synaptic connections to XII and PH Mns via bifurcating axons.