Garcia-Rill E, Skinner R D
Brain Res. 1987 May 12;411(1):13-20. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(87)90676-7.
Single neurons were recorded extracellularly in an area of the medioventral medulla known to receive descending mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) input. A large number (47%) of these cells were found to receive short-latency orthodromic input following stimulation of the physiologically identified MLR. Of the medioventral medulla neurons studied, 34% were found to project to the spinal cord (determined by antidromic activation following stimulation of the ventrolateral funiculus). Approximately one-half (17% of the total population) of these reticulospinal cells were found to receive short-latency orthodromic input from the MLR. The regional distribution of this group of reticulospinal cells corresponded with the area found to receive descending projections from the MLR in previous anatomical studies. In addition, electrical and chemical activation of the same region was found to elicit locomotion on a treadmill in a companion study. The present findings demonstrate that descending MLR projections influence a large number of medioventral medulla cells, some of which have direct spinal projections, and suggest that this area is a primary relay in the manifestation of MLR function.
在中脑腹侧延髓的一个已知接受中脑运动区（MLR）下行输入的区域，对单个神经元进行了细胞外记录。在刺激经生理学鉴定的MLR后，发现这些细胞中有很大一部分（47%）接受短潜伏期的顺向输入。在所研究的中脑腹侧延髓神经元中，发现34%投射到脊髓（通过刺激外侧索后的逆向激活确定）。这些网状脊髓细胞中约有一半（占总数的17%）被发现接受来自MLR的短潜伏期顺向输入。这组网状脊髓细胞的区域分布与先前解剖学研究中发现的接受来自MLR下行投射的区域相对应。此外，在一项配套研究中发现，对同一区域进行电刺激和化学刺激可在跑步机上引发运动。目前的研究结果表明，MLR的下行投射影响大量中脑腹侧延髓细胞，其中一些细胞具有直接的脊髓投射，并表明该区域是MLR功能表现的主要中继站。
