Properties of two unmyelinated fibre tracts of the central nervous system: lateral Lissauer tract, and parallel fibres of the cerebellum.

Abstract

1. Monoplar tungsten micro‐electrodes were used to stimulate and platinun plated tungsten micro‐electrodes to record from single, unmyelinated cerebellar parallel fibres and lateral Lissauer tract axons in cats. 2. Stimulation of the lateral Lissauer tract resulted in the activation of a narrow, longitudinal 'beam', much as on the cerebellar surface. 3. Following impulse conduction, parallel and Lissauer tract fibres showed a supernormal conduction velocity (up to 25% increase) and increased excitability (up to 40% increase). No subnormality was encountered following supernormality. Some Lissauer tract fibres had prolonged relative refractory periods and no supernormal periods. 4. Chronaxies ranged from 155 to 380 microseconds. 5. Single fibres exhibited a remarkable increase in conduction velocity (up to 18% and excitability (up to 40%) following a single subthreshold stimulus. The duration of this effect (up to 20 msec) was much longer than expected from membrane time constant estimates.