Neuronal origin of parallel suppression of postural tone and respiration elicited by stimulation of midpontine dorsal tegmentum in the decerebrate cat.

This paper describes the possibility that rostal pontine neuronal structures cause the parallel suppression of postural tone and respiration evoked by stimulation of the dorsal tegmental field (DTF) of the pons in decerebrate cats. Stimulation of the DTF along the midline decreased both diaphragmatic activity and the bilateral tone of the hind-limb extensor muscles. Pontine neuronal structures located rostrally to the DTF, from which antidromically activated units could be recorded on stimulation of the DTF, were studied. Antidromic spikes were recorded in and near the nucleus reticularis pontis oralis. Tonic electrical stimulation of these sites caused parallel suppression of postural tone and respiration. These suppressive effects were almost similar to those elicited by the DTF stimulation.