Excitability changes in lumbosacral spinothalamic neurons produced by non-noxious mechanical stimuli and by graded electrical stimuli applied to the face.

The changes in the excitability of lumbosacral spinothalamic neurons produced by activating afferents in the trigeminal nerve using electrical or mechanical stimuli was investigated in cats anesthetized with alpha-chloralose. In most spinothalamic neurons, weak electrical stimuli or step indentations of the skin of the face produced an increase followed by decrease in the excitability of these cells. In experiments in which the effect of activating specific groups of trigeminal afferent fibers on these excitability changes was evaluated, the suppression could be produced by activating only the fastest conducting cutaneous afferent fibers. Step indentations of the facial skin affected the excitability of spinothalamic neurons in a manner similar to electrical stimuli. The duration of the suppression phase appeared to be largely independent of the duration of the step indentation of the facial skin. It was concluded that the descending system mediating the suppression phase is activated largely by cutaneous afferents from rapidly adapting receptors. The effects of subtotal spinal cord lesions on the excitation and suppression phases produced by facial stimulation indicate that the pathways mediating the supppression descend bilaterally in the dorsal part of the lateral fasciculus. The excitation phase appears to be mediated largely by pathways in the dorsal part of the ipsilateral lateral fasciculus.