Ribeiro-do-Valle L E, Metzler C W, Jacobs B L
Department of Psychology, Princeton University, NJ 08544.
Brain Res. 1991 Jun 7;550(2):197-204. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(91)91318-u.
The trigeminal motor nucleus (MoV) contains the somata of the motoneurons that control jaw position and jaw movements. This nucleus is of neurochemical interest because it receives a dense serotonergic input. We examined the effects of application of serotonin or fluoxetine, a serotonin reuptake blocker, into this nucleus on the spontaneous or reflex (jaw-closure) electrical activity of the masseter muscle in behaving cats. Serotonin produced a clearcut enhancement of both spontaneous and reflex activities. This action was attenuated by previous systemic injection of the serotonin receptor antagonist methysergide. The effect was mimicked to a certain extent by fluoxetine. These data provide evidence that the serotonergic input to MoV exerts a general facilitatory influence on masseter motoneurons activity.
三叉神经运动核（MoV）包含控制下颌位置和下颌运动的运动神经元的胞体。这个核在神经化学方面具有研究价值，因为它接受密集的血清素能输入。我们研究了向该核内注射血清素或血清素再摄取阻滞剂氟西汀，对行为猫的咬肌自发或反射性（闭口）电活动的影响。血清素使自发活动和反射活动均明显增强。预先全身注射血清素受体拮抗剂麦角新碱可减弱这种作用。氟西汀在一定程度上模拟了这种效应。这些数据证明，向MoV的血清素能输入对咬肌运动神经元活动产生一般性的促进影响。
