Summary
Intracellular recordings were obtained from medial vestibular nuclei neurones in guinea-pig brainstem slices. A subpopulation of neurones in this nucleus was found to have burst firing properties. Using ionic channel blockers the underlying mechanism was shown to be a low threshold calcium spike. It is speculated that this property could be implicated in the generation of the quick phase of the vestibular nystagmus in the behaving guinea-pig.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baker R, Berthoz A (1974) Organization of vestibular nystagmus in oblique oculomotor system. J Neurophysiol 37:195–217
Berthoz A, Yoshida K, Vidal PP (1981) Horizontal eye movement signals in second-order vestibular nuclei neurons in the cat. In: Cohen B (eds) Vestibular and oculomotor physiology. Ann NY Acad Sci, pp 144–156
Berthoz PP, Droulez J, Vidal PP, Yoshida K (1989) Neural correlate of horizontal VOR cancelation during rapid eye movement in the cat. J Physiol (Lond) 419:717–751
Curthoys IS (1982) The response of primary horizontal semicircular canal neurons in the rat and guinea pig to angular acceleration. Exp Brain Res 47:286–294
Duensing F, Schaefer KP (1958) Die Aktivität einzelner Neurone im Bereich der Vestibulariskerne bei Horizontalbeschleunigungen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des vestibulären Nystagmus. Arch Psychiatr Nervenkr 198:225–252
Escudero M, de Waele C, Berthoz A, Vidal PP (1989) Horizontal vestibulo-ocular and vestibulo-collic reflexes in the normal and hemilabyrinthectomized guinea pig. ENA Abstr 12:8
Gresty MA (1975) Eye and head movements of the guinea pig in response to optokinetic stimulation and sinusoïdal oscillations in yaw. Pflügers Archiv Ges Physiol 353:201–214
Hikosaka O, Maeda M, Nakao S, Shimazu H, Shinoda Y (1977) Presynaptic impulses in the abducens nucleus and their relation to postsynaptic potentials in motoneurons during vestibular nystagmus. Exp Brain Res 27:355–376
Hikosaka O, Nakao S, Shimazu H (1980) Postsynaptic inhibition underlying spike suppression of secondary vestibular neurons during quick phases of vestibular nystagmus. Neurosci Lett 16:21–26
Igusa Y, Sasaki S, Shimazu H (1980) Excitatory premotor burst neurons in the cat pontine reticular formation related to the quick phase of vestibular nystagmus. Brain Res 182:451–456
Ishizuka N, Mannen H, Sasaki S, Shimazu H (1980) Axonal branches and terminations in the cat abducens nucleus of secondary vestibular neurons in the horizontal canal system. Neurosci Lett16:143–148
Jahnsen H, Llinás R (1984) Ionic basis for the electro-responsiveness and oscillatory properties of guinea-pig thalamic neurones in vitro. J. Physiol (Lond) 349:227–247
Llinás R, Mühlethaler M (1988) Electrophysiology of guinea-pig cerebellar nuclear cells in the in vitro brainstem-cerebellar preparation. J Physiol (Lond) 404:241–258
Llinás R (1988) The intrinsic electrophysiological properties of mammalian neurons: insights into central nervous system function. Science 242:1654–1664
Llinás R, Sugimori M (1980) Electrophysiological properties of in vitro Purkinje cell somata in mammalian cerebellar slices. J Physiol (Lond) 305:171–195
Maeda M, Shimazu H, Shinoda Y (1972) Nature of synaptic events in cat abducens motoneurons at slow and quick phases of vestibular nystagmus. J Neurophysiol 35:279–296
Nakao S, Sasaki S, Schor RH, Shimazu H (1982) Functional organization of premotor neurons in the cat medial vestibular nucleus related to slow and fast phases of nystagmus. Exp Brain Res 45:371–385
Sasaki S, Shimazu H (1981) Reticulo-vestibular organization participating in generation of horizontal fast eye movement. Ann NY Acad Sci 374:130–145
Serafin M, Vidal PP, de Waele C, Khateb A, Mühlethaler M (1989) Burst firing of medial vestibular nuclei neurones in vitro. Soc Neurosci Abstr 15:452
Shimazu H, Precht W (1965) Tonic and kinetic responses of cat's vestibular neurons to horizontal angular acceleration. J Neurophysiol 28:991–1013
Shimazu H, Precht W (1966) Inhibition of central vestibular neurons from the contralateral labyrinth and its mediating pathway. J Neurophysiol 29:467–492
Smith PF, Curthoys IS (1988a) Neuronal activity in the ipsilateral medial vestibular nucleus of the guinea pig following unilateral labyrinthectomy. Brain Res 444:308–319
Smith PF, Curthoys IS (1988b) Neuronal activity in the contralateral medial vestibular nucleus of the guinea pig following unilateral labyrinthectomy. Brain Res 444:295–307
Yoshida K, Berthoz A, Vidai PP, Mc Créa R (1981) Eye movement related activity of identified second order vestibular neurons in the cat. In: Fuchs A, Becker W (eds) Progress in oculomotor research: developments in neuroscience. Elsevier North Holland Biomedical Press, Amsterdam, pp 371–378
Yoshida K, Mc Crea R, Berthoz A, Vidal PP (1982) Morphological and physiological characteristics of inhibitory burst neurons controlling horizontal rapid eye movements in alert cat. J Neurophysiol 48:761–784
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Serafin, M., Khateb, A., de Waele, C. et al. Low threshold calcium spikes in medial vestibular nuclei neurones in vitro: a role in the generation of the vestibular nystagmus quick phase in vivo?. Exp Brain Res 82, 187–190 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00230850
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00230850