The effect of cortical ablation on afferent activity in the cat somatosensory system

The modulatory influence of primary S1 cortex upon afferent activity in the somatosensory system was examined in acute cats. Modulatory influences due both to prior afferent activity and efferent activity on peripherally evoked neural responses in thalamic n. ventralis posterolateralis (VPL) and the dorsal column nuclei (DCN) were analyzed. The right superficial radial nerve was stimulated with suprathreshold pulses applied randomly in time. Evoked activity was recorded from ipsilateral DCN, contralateral VPL, and contralateral S1 cortex before and after ablation of S1 cortex. The data were analyzed using a modified functional power series. The responses were characterized by first- and second-order kernels computed by cross-correlation. S1 ablation reduced or eliminated the second positive peak in the VPL response. Incomplete S1 ablation produced a graded effect on this peak. In addition, S1 ablation eliminated the negative notch on the leading edge of the response observed in the nucleus cuneatus. The results from VPL suggest that the second VPL positive peak is produced by a tonic S1 influence on another region of the central nervous system that is coupled to VPL, rather than by a direct VPL-cortical-VPL reflex loop. The results from the DCN confirm earlier studies suggesting a cuneate-cortical-cuneate reflex loop.