[Functional state of the cerebral cortex and midbrain reticular formation during traumatic shock]

Acute experiments on cats were carried out during traumatic shock to study evoked potentials in the sensorimotor cortex and reticular formation (RF) of the midbrain in response to electrodermal irritation of the contralateral paw. The cortical function was judged by thresholds of convulsant reaction while function of RF by thresholds of activation reaction in the cortex of the course of high-frequency electrical stimulation of the structures under study. It was shown that in traumatic shock, initial and pronounced depression of the cortical function paralleled long enough stability of RF functional activity.