Effects of heterotopic noxious stimuli on activity of neurones in subnucleus reticularis dorsalis in the rat medulla.

1. In anaesthetized rats, recordings were made in the medullary subnucleus reticularis dorsalis. Neurones with total nociceptive convergence (TNC) responded to percutaneous electrical stimuli with early and late peaks due to the activation of A delta and C fibres respectively, no matter which part of the body was stimulated. Neurones with partial nociceptive convergence (PNC) responded with an A delta peak regardless of which part of the body was stimulated, and with a C peak of activation from some, mainly contralateral, parts of the body. 2. All TNC neurones responded to noxious thermal stimulation of the limbs with a phasic discharge followed by tonic activity that lasted throughout the stimulation. Discharges elicited by applying stimuli simultaneously to both forepaws or to a hindpaw and a forepaw were lower than the individual responses to stimulation of a single limb. Similar negative interactions were observed in the responses of PNC neurones following noxious thermal stimulation of two paws. 3. In both neuronal populations, the simultaneous application of noxious thermal stimuli and microelectrophoretic application of D,L-homocysteic acid (DLH) induced responses of greater magnitude than those evoked by each stimulus alone. 4. TNC neurones responded to electrical stimulation of the contralateral hindpaw with A delta and C fibre responses. Noxious thermal stimuli applied to different areas of the body induced an excitatory response during the period that preceded the electrical stimulation, but an inhibition of both A delta and C fibre responses. By contrast, using a similar protocol, application of DLH induced a steady discharge in the period preceding the electrical stimulation and also in between the A delta and C fibre responses, which were not themselves inhibited. 5. The negative heterotopic influences in normal rats during simultaneous immersion of the ipsi- and contralateral hindpaws was strongly reduced in rats with bilateral lesions of the dorsolateral funiculi at the cervical level (C3-C4). 6. It is concluded that strong negative interactions elicited by heterotopic noxious stimuli are observed in the spinoreticular system. Such interactions do not occur at the subnucleus reticularis dorsalis level but are mediated by supraspinal structures which control, through the dorsolateral funiculi, the spinal transmission of nociceptive information.