Abstract
Responses of 81 neurons accurately localized in the nucleus reticularis thalami (RT) of moderately anesthesized rats were tested for response to noxious and non-noxious cutaneous stimuli. Spontaneous firing rates were very high (between 18 and 60 Hz) and regular. Non-noxious stimuli did not modify the activity of RT neurons. By contrast, in 62 81 RT neurons, noxious cutaneous mechanical stimuli induced a strong and short-latency depression of firing, irrespective of the location of the stimulus on the body surface. Intense (> 3 mA) transcutaneous electrical stimulation also elicited long-lasting depressions of the firing in most cases. The hypothesis of a possible role of the RT nucleus in inhibitory controls exerted upon noxious messages relayed in the thalamic ventrobasal nucleus is discussed.
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