Horizontal vestibular nystagmus. II. Activity patterns of medial vestibular neurones during nystagmus

Abstract

Identified medial vestibular neurones were studied before, during and after nystagmogenic labyrinthine stimulation in the Encéphale isolé cat. Motor discharges were simultaneously recorded from the contralateral abducens nerve. 87.9% of the recorded neurones showed changes in tonic firing frequency during repetitive labyrinthine stimulation with no nystagmic modulation in behaviour. The secondary vestibular neurones projecting monosynaptically to the contralateral abducens motoneurones were included in this non-rhythmic population. Only 2% of the recorded population fired rhythmically both during nystagmogenic stimulation and poststimulation nystagmus. These neurones showed plasticity in behaviour regarding the phases of nystagmus recorded from the contralateral abducens nerve. The remaining 10.1% of the medial vestibular neurones were excited or inhibited by repetitive stimulation of the labyrinth but showed burst firing patterns correlated with poststimulation nystagmic discharges.