EEG activity in cat's isolated brainstem.

Abstract

Midbrain and pons were isolated together by two brainstem transections, at the junctions between midbrain and forebrain on one hand and the medulla and pons on the other hand. Low-voltage, high-frequency and high-voltage, low-frequency EEG activity were present in the isolated brainstem. This is in contrast to previous findings, showing that in the midbrain and pons separately isolated the EEG activity was greatly depressed, although accompanied by brisk single-unit spike activity. Thus, neural connections between pons and midbrain may lead to synchronization of single-unit activity.