Localization of evoked potentials in the digastric, masseteric, supra- and intertrigeminal subnuclei of the cat

Extracellular focal potentials were evoked and mapped in the trigeminal motor nucleus and its surrounding borderzone in the cat. Graded electrical stimulation was used for orthodromic and antidromic excitation of the masseteric and digastric motoneurones and for orthodromic stimulation of the lingual and inferior alveolar nerves. The method of referring Horsley Clarke coordinates of microelectrode recording positions to their location of the actual histological section was studied and the total error affecting the method was calculated for the H, AP and L axes. The characteristics and the distribution of the evoked focal potentials were described and related to the histological section from the actual experiment. A phase reversal of the negative focal potential evoked by the lingual and inferior alveolar nerves in the main sensory nucleus and in the intertrigeminal nucleus was observed to indicate the dorso-lateral border of the motor nucleus. Other borders were given by the antidromic potentials evoked in the nucleus. Digastric motoneurones were found medially in the caudal third and ventro-medially in the middle third of the motor nucleus. The masseteric motoneurones were located laterally in the middle and rostral thirds of the nucleus. Potentials evoked in the supratrigeminal and intertrigeminal subnuclei, adjacent to the motor nucleus, were considered and discussed in relation to the available evidence of interneurones subserving trigeminal reflex arcs.