Experiments on the motor cortex of the cat

✍ Scribed by Paul S. McKibben; Denson R. Wheelis

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1932
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 832 KB
• Volume: 56
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9967
• DOI: 10.1002/cne.900560206

✦ Synopsis

Within recent years a number of observations have been made in the cat following stimulation of, and injury to, the sigmoidal gyri which border the cruciate sulcus and the gyms proreus (area frontalis) which is a continuation of the anterior sigmoidal gyrus forward toward the olfactory bulb. In 1927, the senior author made some observations which were reported in abstract (McKibben, '29) and recently the junior author has repeated and extended these experiments. It is the purpose of this paper to report these observations in detail.

STIMULATION

Stiniulation has been carried out under anesthesia with ether or amytal. Ether was administered either by cone or intratracheal insufflation and the amytal, 60 mg. per kilo of body weight, injected intraperitonealy in adult cats, 30 mg. in kittens. Exposure of tlie excitable cortex was done as quickly as possible and any injury t o the underlying cortex carefully avoidecl during the removal of tlie bone and the opening of the dura. Bleeding was usually easily controllecl. In many cats, particularly angoras, where the gyrus proreus lies quite deep behind the frontal sinus, the approach was made through the frontal sinus and tlie gyrus proreus stimulated before the animal was subjected to further operative procedures necessary for the exposure of the sigmoidal gyrj. Any marked bleeding which made iiecessarv considerable swabbing of the exposed cortex seemed to decrease its irrita-373