Potter R F, Rüegg D G, Wiesendanger M
Brain Res Bull. 1978 Jan-Feb;3(1):15-9. doi: 10.1016/0361-9230(78)90056-4.
The aim of this study was to investigate the degree of convergence of corticofugal neurones from various cortical areas onto single neurones of the pontine nuclei (PN). Eighty-five% of the PN neurones responded to electrical stimulation of at least one of the following cortical areas: sensorimotor, visual, auditory. Slightly less than half of these neurones displayed a convergent input from two or three of functionally different cortical areas. The sensorimotor cortex, particularly the face areas, provided the most important input to the PN; stimulation of the visual cortex was less effective and stimulation of the auditory cortex rarely excited PN neurones. The electrophysiological results suggest that considerable cross-link exists between the anatomically defined cortico-pontine projection columns.
