The Response of Thalamic and Cortical Neurons to Electrical and Physiological Stimulation of the Cat’s Tongue

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the responses evoked by tactile, thermal, and gustatory stimuli applied to the tongue in single units at higher levels of the path from the cat’s tongue and compares these responses with those obtained from the afferent nerve fibers. A number of features are investigated here: the localization of the thalamic and the cortical tongue projection areas, the specificity of the response of thalamic and cortical neurons to different types of tongue stimuli, the peripheral receptive field of thalamic and cortical neurons, the pattern of impulse discharge evoked in thalamic and cortical neurons by certain defined stimuli applied to the tongue, and the response of thalamic neurons to nociceptive cutaneous stimuli and to electrical stimulation of the mesencephalic reticular formation.