LOCALIZATION OF THE SALIVATORY CENTER IN THE MEDULLA OF THE CAT

Abstract

With the aid of the Horsley-Clarke stereotaxic instrument the lower brain stem of 35 cats was stimulated. A copious salivary flow was easily elicited from the homolateral glands when the medulla was stimulated with a weak current. Analysis of the re-sponsive locations revealed that salivary secretion could be obtained by stimulation of the intramedullary visceral (taste) afferent system. On the efferent side, the distribu-tion suggested that the salivatory nuclear masses might be either in the medial position caudal to the facial genu, or more likely, in the dorso-lateral region of the lateral reticular formation, dorsomedial to the spinal trigeminal nucleus, and dorsal to and at the level of the facial nucleus. There was no sharp division of the centers of the salivatory nerve fibers carried in the 7th and 9th cranial nerves. The rostral portion supplied the submaxillary glands, and the caudal portion the parotid. There existed an intermediate portion, stimulation of which yielded both submaxillary and parotid secretion.