The electroresponsive properties of neonatal lumbar spinal motoneurones were studied using isolated, hemisected spinal cords from neonatal rats aged 3-12 days. The extracellular and intracellular responses to electrical stimulation of the ventral and dorsal root were studied as well as the intracellular response to current injection. Field potentials recorded in the lateral motor area following electrical stimulation of lumbar ventral roots had a triphasic positive-negative-positive wave form. The negative component did not return to the base line smoothly but exhibited a 'shoulder' where the negativity increased in duration. Following electrical stimulation of the dorsal root, presynaptic field potentials were recorded upon activation of the afferent axons as well as following synaptic activation of interneurones and motoneurones. The input resistances of neonatal motoneurones determined from the slope of current-voltage plots were high compared with the adult. The resistance decreased with age with a mean of 18.1 M omega for animals 3-5 days old, 8.8 M omega for animals 6-8 days old and 5.4 M omega for animals 9-11 days old. Values for the membrane time constant were similar to those in the adult with a mean of 4.5 ms. Action potentials elicited by ventral or dorsal root stimulation or by intracellular current injection were marked by a pronounced after-depolarization (a.d.p.) and an after-hyperpolarization (a.h.p.). The amplitude of the a.h.p. varied with that of the a.d.p. The amplitude of excitatory post-synaptic potentials (e.p.s.p.s) elicited by electrical stimulation of the dorsal root was affected by intracellular current injection. Two types of e.p.s.p.s were distinguished: those with a biphasic reversal (early phase first) and those in which the early phase was unaffected by inward current injection while the later phase was reversed. Unlike in the adult, the reversals could be achieved with low current levels and the amplitude of both types of e.p.s.p. was increased by inward current injection. Inhibitory post-synaptic potentials (i.p.s.p.s) were elicited by dorsal or ventral root stimulation. The amplitude of these i.p.s.p.s was diminished and reversed in sign with inward current injection and their amplitude was enhanced with outward current injection. Activation of neonatal motoneurones with long current pulses revealed that there is one steady-state firing range.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1113/jphysiol.1986.sp015956

Electrophysiological properties of neonatal rat motoneurones studied in vitro.

The human capacity for vibrotactile frequency discrimination has been compared directly for glabrous and hairy skin regions by means of a two-alternative, forced-choice psychophysical procedure in ...

https://www.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.1152/jn.00483.2005

Vibrotactile frequency discrimination in human hairy skin

Ionic mechanisms underlying the firing properties of rat neonatal motoneurons studied in vitro

1. The effect of changes in amplitude on the perceived pitch of cutaneous vibratory stimuli was studied in psychophysical experiments designed to test whether the coding of information about the frequency of the vibration might be based on the ratio of recruitment of the PC (Pacinian corpuscle-associated) and RA (rapidly adapting) classes of tactile sensory fibres. The study was based on previous data which show that at certain vibration frequencies (e.g. 150 Hz) the ratio of recruitment of the PC and RA classes should vary as a function of vibration amplitude. 2. Sinusoidal vibration at either 30 Hz or 150 Hz, and at an amplitude 10 dB above subjective detection thresholds was delivered in a 1 s train to the distal phalangeal pad of the index finger in eight human subjects. This standard vibration was followed after 0.5 s by a 1 s comparison train of vibration which (unknown to the subject) was at the same frequency as the standard but at a range of amplitudes from 2 to 50 dB above the detection threshold. A two-alternative forced-choice procedure was used in which the subject had to indicate whether the comparison stimulus was higher or lower in pitch (frequency) than the standard. 3. Marked differences were seen from subject to subject in the effect of amplitude on perceived pitch at both 30 Hz and 150 Hz. At 150 Hz, five out of the eight subjects reported an increase in pitch as the amplitude of the comparison vibration increased, one experienced no change, and only two experienced the fall in perceived pitch that is predicted if the proposed ratio code contributes to vibrotactile pitch judgements. At 30 Hz similar intersubject variability was seen in the pitch-amplitude functions. 4. The results do not support the hypothesis that a ratio code contributes to vibrotactile pitch perception. We conclude that temporal patterning of impulse activity remains the major candidate code for pitch perception, at least over a substantial part of the vibrotactile frequency bandwidth.

https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1113/jphysiol.1990.sp018336

Perceived pitch of vibrotactile stimuli: effects of vibration amplitude, and implications for vibration frequency coding.

These experiments assessed whether the impairment in proprioceptive acuity in the hand during ‘interfering’ cutaneous stimulation could be caused by inputs from Pacinian corpuscles. The ability to detect passive movements at the proximal interphalangeal joint of the index finger was measured when vibrotactile stimuli were applied to the adjacent middle finger and thenar eminence at frequencies and amplitudes that favour activation of rapidly adapting cutaneous afferents. Inputs from Pacinian corpuscles are favoured with high-frequency vibration (300 Hz), while those from Meissner corpuscles are favoured by lower frequencies (30 Hz). Detection of movement was significantly impaired when 300 Hz (20 μm peak-to-peak amplitude) complex vibration or 300 Hz (50 μm) sinusoidal vibration was applied to the middle finger and thenar eminence. In contrast, detection of movements was not altered by low-frequency sinusoidal vibration at 30 Hz with an amplitude of 50 μm or with a larger amplitude matched in subjective intensity to the 300 Hz sinusoidal stimulus. Thus it is unlikely that the impairment in detection was due to attention being diverted by vibration of an adjacent digit. In addition, an increase in amplitude of 300 Hz vibration led to a greater impairment of movement detection, so that the impairment was graded with the input. The time taken to nominate the direction of applied movement also increased during 300 Hz but not during 30 Hz sinusoidal vibration. These findings suggest that stimuli which preferentially activate Pacinian, but not Meissner corpuscles, impair proprioceptive acuity in a movement detection task.

Impairment of human proprioception by high-frequency cutaneous vibration.

The functional maturation of cuneate neurons was studied using reproducible tactile stimulation procedures and quantitative assessment of coding capacities in anesthetized (N2O/O2 plus barbiturate ...

D. G. Ferrington

Papers

Tactile sensory coding during development: signaling capacities of neurons in kitten dorsal column nuclei.