The exercise pressor reflex: evidence for an afferent pressor pathway outside the dorsolateral sulcus region

Pressor reflexes evoked by muscle contraction following stimulation of the cut distal portions of the L7 and S1 ventral roots were studied in decerebrate unanesthetized cats. Reflex responses evoked by this simulated exercise persisted after lesions were made in the dorsolateral sulcus region of the T13-L1 spinal cord, indicating that this area is not essential for mediation of these reflexes. Additional evidence suggested that the pathway responsible for the exercise pressor reflex located in the surviving spinal cord is most likely bilateral.