Centrifugal dorsal root discharges induced by motoneurone activation

1. It has been confirmed that antidromic stimulation of motoneurones in the cat lumbar cord can induce, when properly conditioned, a centrifugal discharge in dorsal root afferent fibres.2. The effective conditioning can be (a) an orthodromic volley to the same or an adjacent dorsal root, (b) a volley to the dorsal column one or two segments above the tested level, or (c) a natural stimulus applied to the ipsi- or contralateral hind limb.3. The conditioning stimulus acts by increasing presynaptic excitability; the peak of its effect (maximum presynaptic depolarization) occurs 7-10 msec after the arrival of the conditioning volley to the cord and then quickly decays.4. A large antidromic field potential in the ventral horn is not necessary for the production of a centrifugal dorsal root discharge. Activation of a ventral root filament of approximately 100 mu in diameter can still induce such a discharge in a single dorsal root fibre. Furthermore, antidromic stimulation of the remaining fibres of the same ventral root cannot affect the terminals activated by the thin ventral root filament.5. The phenomenon of motoneurone-presynaptic interaction was obtained in different types of experimental preparations: acute and chronic spinal, anaemic and midcollicular decerebrate, animals with intact supraspinal centres, and one animal without acute laminectomy.