McIntyre A K, Proske U, Rawson J A
J Physiol. 1985 Dec;369:115-26. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1985.sp015891.
In cats anaesthetized with alpha-chloralose, extracellular, recordings were made from neurones lying in nucleus Z. All cells could be excited by electrical stimulation of ipsilateral hind-limb muscle nerves at group I strength. Many cells showed an irregular background discharge. In response to graded contraction of hind-limb muscles, including lateral gastrocnemius, soleus and flexor digitorum longus, cell discharge changed in a manner suggesting that it was driven by input from muscle spindles or from tendon organs. Responses of individual nucleus Z cells were always specific to one kind of receptor and there was no evidence of convergence of afferent impulses from spindles and tendon organs. Nucleus Z neurones excited by muscle group I input could be antidromically driven by stimulation of the contralateral thalamus identifying them as bulbo-thalamic projection neurones. The same cells could be driven trans-synaptically by stimulation of the ipsilateral anterior lobe of the cerebellum. It was possible using a collision test to show that afferent fibres synapsing on nucleus Z cells were collaterals of dorsal spinocerebellar tract cells. It is concluded that nucleus Z is a brain stem relay for afferent information from muscle spindles and tendon organs which is destined for the cerebral cortex.
在用α-氯醛糖麻醉的猫身上，对位于Z核的神经元进行了细胞外记录。所有细胞都能被以I组强度电刺激同侧后肢肌肉神经所兴奋。许多细胞表现出不规则的背景放电。对包括外侧腓肠肌、比目鱼肌和趾长屈肌在内的后肢肌肉的分级收缩作出反应时，细胞放电的变化方式表明它是由肌梭或腱器官的输入驱动的。单个Z核细胞的反应总是对一种感受器具有特异性，没有证据表明来自肌梭和腱器官的传入冲动会汇聚。由I组肌肉输入兴奋的Z核神经元可以通过刺激对侧丘脑进行逆向驱动，从而确定它们为延髓-丘脑投射神经元。同样的细胞可以通过刺激同侧小脑前叶进行跨突触驱动。利用碰撞试验有可能表明，与Z核细胞形成突触的传入纤维是背侧脊髓小脑束细胞的侧支。得出的结论是，Z核是来自肌梭和腱器官的传入信息传向大脑皮层的脑干中继站。
