[Convergence and interaction of reticulofugal and afferent impulses on caudate nucleus neurons in the cat].

In chronic experiments on cats the activity of 269 striatal neurons was investigated extracellularly under direct electrical stimulation of the midbrain reticular formation and using different sensory stimuli: auditory, mechanical, visual. The same striatal neuron responded to reticular and peripheral stimulations. The responses to reticular stimulation recorded in 53% of striatal neurons were orthodromic with high probability of appearance. 23% of striatal neurons responded to reticular stimulation and to stimuli of a single modality. 14% of neurons exhibited polymodal responses. Under all kinds of stimulation excitatory reactions prevailed. Interaction between reticular and acoustic inputs was revealed with paired stimulation in 100 striatal neurons. The reticular formation stimulation caused both facilitatory (predominantly) and inhibitory influences on striatal neurons.