Post-spike facilitation of neck EMG by cat tectoreticulospinal neurones during orienting movements

1. The activity of fourteen tectoreticulospinal neurones (TRSNs) was recorded intraaxonally in the caudal pons of alert cats during orienting movements towards visual stimuli. TRSN spikes were used to compute the spike-triggered average (STA) of rectified EMG of dorsal neck muscles. 2. Eight TRSNs for which 400-2532 spikes were available were analysed with the STA technique. When the STA was computed from all spikes, significant post-spike facilitation (PSF) was obtained for six of eighteen cell-muscle pairs investigated (5 TRSNs). The mean relative amplitude of PSFs was 7.4% (S.D. 3.7). The onset latencies ranged from 1.1 to 5.0 ms and mean duration was 11.4 +/- 3.1 ms (mean +/- S.D.). 3. Interspike interval distributions were unimodal, with modes between 2.7 and 12.7 ms. Spike trains of TRSNs that produced significant PSFs contained 5-13% of the interspike intervals < or = 5 ms and 22-37% of the intervals < or = 10 ms. To evaluate the contribution of short intervals to PSF, STAs were computed separately for spikes preceded by 'short' (< or = 5 or < or = 10 ms) and 'long' (> 5 or > 10 ms) intervals. 4. When computed from spikes preceded by 'long' intervals, PSF amplitudes were small (mean +/- S.D., 5.3 +/- 2.7%) and onset latencies measured by cusum ranged between 2.4 and 5.4 ms. This is longer than the estimated minimal latency of monosynaptic facilitatory effect on neck EMG (1.9-2.1 ms). 5. Relative amplitudes of PSF obtained with spikes preceded by 'short' intervals were much larger (mean +/- S.D., 14.8 +/- 7.4%), but cusums indicated negative latencies for four of six PSFs. The unrealistically short onset latencies could be accounted for by the summation of facilitation from the trigger spike with that of the preceding spikes. In four of five TRSNs a large increase of PSF amplitude (from 3.2 to 7.2 times the amplitude obtained from 'long' intervals) suggests the presence of frequency-dependent potentiation of synaptic transmission. 6. This study unequivocally demonstrates that some TRSNs produce significant post-spike facilitation of neck motoneurones. This facilitation could be mediated by monosynaptic tectomotoneuronal connections although a contribution by disynaptic connections cannot be definitively ruled out. The high instantaneous firing rates of TRSNs produce a potentiation of the otherwise weak facilitatory action of TRSNs that presumably contributes to a rapid recruitment of motoneurones during initiation of head orienting movements.