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Effects of Chronic Dorsal Column Lesions on Pelvic Viscerosomatic Convergent Medullary Reticular Formation Neurons

¹Department of Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40292; ²Department of Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and the ³Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610-0144

Submitted 26 May 2004; accepted in final form 23 July 2004

Single medullary reticular formation (MRF) neurons receive multiple somatovisceral convergent inputs originating from many different spinal and cranial nerves, including the pelvic nerve (PN), dorsal nerve of the penis (DNP), and the abdominal branches of the vagus. In a previous study, the input to MRF from the male genitalia was shown to be eliminated with chronic 30-day dorsal hemisection at the T₈ spinal level. In this study, the effect of a smaller chronic lesion [dorsal column lesion (DCx)] on MRF neuronal responses was examined. Responses to bilateral electrical stimulation of the DNP remained. MRF neuronal responses to non-noxious (touch/stroke) levels of penile stimulation, however, were eliminated; only responses to noxious pinch remained. No differences were found for the number of neurons responding to noxious distention of the colon between the DCx and control groups. Although no differences were found across these groups for the percent MRF responses to vagal stimulation, the mean response latency for the DCx group was twice the sham-DCx/intact control group. Taken together, these results indicate that the MRF receives at least some of its input from the male genitalia via pathways located within the dorsal columns at the mid-thoracic spinal level.

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