Synaptic actions of the ventral root afferents on cat hindlimb motoneurons

Postsynaptic potentials (PSPs) with long latencies were evoked in cat hindlimb motoneurons by stimulation of the distal stump of a cut ventral root. Measurements of their latency and the threshold in the responsible afferent fibers showed that they were produced mainly by the activity of the unmyelinated fibers in the ventral root that enter the spinal cord through the dorsal root. Patterns of PSPs evoked in flexor and extensor motoneurons by ventral root stimulation were similar to those observed in the flexion reflex.