Location and properties of dorsal horn neurons at origin of spinoreticular tract in lumbar enlargement of the rat

1. Spinoreticular tract neurons at the rat lumbar cord level were identified by antidromic activation following stimulation at mainly pontine and mesencephalic levels. These units, which were found in the dorsal half of the cord, could be separated into two groups according to their spinal location, electrophysiological properties, and their central projections. 2. Units in the dorsolateral funiculus nucleus projected mainly to the cuneiformis area and adjacent structures with frequent bilateral projections. They had the slowest conduction velocities, sometimes in the unmyelinated range. Generally, they were driven only by stimulation of subcutaneous and/or deep structures. 3. Neurons located in the dorsal horn mainly projected contralaterally to pontine and mesencephalic levels. their conduction velocities and the electrophysiological properties were identical to those observed for the rat spinothalamic tract (22). Almost all (86%) had clear cutaneous sensitivity and generally large receptive fields: 40% responded to nonnoxious and noxious mechanical cutaneous stimuli and frequently to noxious radiant heat, 26% were exclusively excited by light tactile stimuli, and 20% required noxious cutaneous mechanical stimulation for activation. There was a good correlation between responses to natural and transcutaneous electrical stimulation: units driven by noxious mechanical stimuli received A-delta- and/or C-fiber inputs. The remaining units (14%) had more complex receptive fields associated with both excitatory and inhibitory inputs originating from a single peripheral area. 4. The functional heterogeneity of the rat spinoreticular tract is reminiscent of that demonstrated for the rat and monkey spinothalamic tracts. Similarly, the rat spinoreticular neurons are under the influence of descending inhibitory controls originating from the nucleus raphe magnus and bulbar reticular formation. 5. Responses of the rat spinoreticular tract neurons are consistent with the involvement of this pathway in the transmission of messages of both innocuous and noxious origins.