Reflex responses of vagal efferent fibres influenced by gastrointestinal mechanoreceptors to electrical afferent stimulation in the anaesthetized ferret.

Activity was recorded from 188 vagal efferent fibres, 90% of which showed responses to distension of the stomach and duodenum. Of thirty fibres tested with single-shock vagal stimulation, reflex action potentials were evoked in fifteen, ranging in latency from 39 to 318 ms. Responses at short latency showed little latency-jitter and high response-probability, and those at long latency showed opposite characteristics. This suggests that two pathways are present in the central organization of vagal reflexes to the gut.