Pepipheral input to the rat subthalamic nucleus, an electrophysiological study

Electrophysiological experiments were carried out in acute rats in order to investigate the existence and organization of the peripheral inputs to the subthalamic nucleus (STN). The majority of the recorded STN neurons (80 127 ) were found to respond with an initial excitation to the contralateral vibrissae skin area stimulation. Moreover, convergent responses were always observed since all these 80 units also responded to at least one of the other tested stimulations (ipsilateral vibrissae area and the four paws). These responding STN units were found to be located mostly in the lateral two thirds of the nucleus. This response is probably mediated by the somatosensory cortical areas since it was suppressed by ablation or cooling of these cortical regions.