A vestibulothalamic pathway: electrophysiological demonstration in the cat by localized cooling.

Localized cooling was used in the search for vestibulothalamic pathways and a study was made of its effect on the activity of the thalamic neurons brought into action by stimulation of the vestibular nerve. Two cell populations were identified by their distinctive latencies in the ventral part of the posterior thalamus. Short latency responses were transmitted monosynaptically by means of a direct controlateral pathway whose course was identified. For long latency responses, the hypothesis of a polysynaptic path seems probable.