Premium
ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY IN SYMPATHETIC FIBRES TO HIND LIMB MUSCLES OF THE CAT PRODUCED BY HYPOTHALAMIC STIMULATION
Author(s) -
Lopes O. U.,
Palmer J. F.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
quarterly journal of experimental physiology and cognate medical sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.925
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1469-445X
pISSN - 0033-5541
DOI - 10.1113/expphysiol.1977.sp002375
Subject(s) - stimulation , hindlimb , cats , vasodilation , cholinergic , anatomy , blood flow , medicine , hypothalamus , spinal cord , chemistry , psychiatry
Electrical stimulation of the ‘Defence Area’ of the hypothalamus in anaesthetized cats was accomplished by stereotaxic placement of bipolar stainless steel electrodes; the spinal cord was sectioned at L4. The muscle blood flow in one hind limb was recorded with an electromagnetic flowmeter. Increases of between 100% and 300% were observed during hypothalamic stimulation. Electroneurographic recordings from small nerve filaments supplying tibialis anterior muscle revealed two populations of neurones whose activity was abolished by lumbar sympathectomy. It appears that the increased blood flow in skeletal muscle during stimulation of the hypothalamic ‘Defence Area’ is brought about by a simultaneous inhibition of vasoconstrictor activity and increase in cholinergic vasodilator discharge.