EXTRAOCULAR PROPRIOCEPTIVE RESPONSES IN THE VI NERVE OF THE CAT.

Abstract

Proprioceptive responses, produced by stretch of the lateral rectus muscle, were studied in the VI nerve of twenty-one cats. Responses were recorded from slips teased from the nerve at its emergence from the pons; thus it is a mixed nerve in the cat. The responses from in-series (tendon organ type) and in-parallel (muscle spindle type) receptors were differentiated by observing the effect of electrically-induced muscle contraction. A number of inhibitory and long latency responses to stretch were noted. A stretch reflex was noted in the VI nerve only when the eyeball and all muscles were intact.