[Responses of accessory nerve nucleus motor neurons to stimulation by different sensory inputs].

Monosynaptic EPSPs in the cat accessory motoneurons were evoked by the stimulation of the cervical dorsal roots (C1 and C2). Responses of these units to the accessory nerve muscle rami stimulation were unstable and polysynaptic. It is supposed that the accessory muscles in the cat (m. sternocleidomastoideus and m. trapezius) receive proprioceptive innervation via the dorsal rami of the upper crevical nerves, and the function of accessory nerve is predominantly motor.