J Neurophysiol (December 1, 2002). 10.1152/jn.00005.2002
Submitted on 7 January 2002
Accepted on 29 July 2002

Modulation of Noxious and Non-Noxious Spinal Mechanical Transmission From the Rostral Medial Medulla in the Rat

Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242

Zhuo, M. and G. F. Gebhart. Modulation of Noxious and Non-Noxious Spinal Mechanical Transmission From the Rostral Medial Medulla in the Rat. J. Neurophysiol. 88: 2928-2941, 2002. Modulatory influences on spinal mechanical transmission from the rostral medial medulla (RMM) were studied. Noxious stimulation, produced by von Frey-like monofilaments, and non-noxious stimulation, produced by a soft brush, was applied to the glabrous skin of the hind foot. At 28 sties in RMM, electrical stimulation facilitated responses to noxious mechanical stimulation at low intensities (5-25 µA) and inhibited responses of the same neurons at greater intensities (50-100 µA) of stimulation. At 24 and 9 other sites in RMM, stimulation at all intensities only inhibited or only facilitated, respectively, responses to noxious mechanical stimulation of the hind foot. Stimulus-response functions to mechanical stimulation were shifted leftward by low intensities and decreased by high intensities of stimulation. Inhibitory influences were found to descend in the dorsolateral funiculi; facilitatory effects were contained in the ventral spinal cord. Descending modulation of non-noxious brush stimulation revealed biphasic facilitatory-inhibitory effects (9 sites in RMM), only inhibitory effects (14 sites) and only facilitatory effects (8 sites). The effects of electrical stimulation were replicated by intra-RMM administration of glutamate; a low concentration (0.25 nmol) facilitated and a greater concentration (2.5 nmol) inhibited spinal mechanical transmission, providing evidence that cells in RMM are sufficient to engage descending influences. Descending modulatory effects were specific for the site of stimulation, not for the spinal neuron, because modulation of the same neuron was different from different sites in RMM. These results show that spinal mechanical transmission, both noxious and non-noxious, is subject to descending influences, including facilitatory influences that may contribute to exaggerated responses to peripheral stimuli in some chronic pain states.