Vestibulospinal Relations: Vestibular Influences on Gamma Motoneurons and Primary Afferents

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There are two main fiber systems, which project from the vestibular nuclei to the spinal cord: the lateral vestibulospinal tract originating from the lateral vestibular nucleus of Deiters and the medial vestibulospinal tract, originating from the medial and to some extent the descending vestibular nuclei. The vestibulospinal fibers from the lateral vestibular nucleus show a somatotopical arrangement, those to the cervical cord coming mainly from the rostroventral regions, those to the lumbosacral cord from the dorsocaudal regions, while the fibers to the thoracic cord are derived from areas intermediate between the two others. The lateral vestibulospinal fibers terminate ipsilaterally in laminae VII and VIII, but not in lamina IX where the soma of the motoneurons is located. The medial vestibulospinal projection is not somatotopically organized. Their descending fibers can be traced bilaterally to midthoracic levels where they terminate in laminae VII and VIII. The lateral vestibular nucleus exerts a monosynaptic as well as a polysynaptic excitatory influence on some extensor motoneurons to ipsilateral hindlimb muscles and this effect involves not only α motoneurons but also static γ motoneurons. The possibility that the monosynaptic excitation of these extensor motoneurons is because of the activation of axo-dendritic rather than axo-somatic synapses may explain why the lateral vestibulospinal fibers have not been found to terminate anatomically in lamina IX.

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