Gastric related neurons in the rat medial vestibular nucleus.

Some structural and functional peculiarities of the rat vestibular nuclei neurones involved in realisation of vestibular-gastrointestinal reflectory reactions were studied. After microinjection of a horseradish peroxidase solution in the 'gastric' area of the nucleus tractus solitarius, retrogradely-labelled cell bodies were found in caudal part of the medial vestibular nucleus. Electrical stimulation of these neurons resulted in the decrease of gastric tone. The respiratory arrest was registered simultaneously. The results suggest that activation of the identified vestibular neurons can induce coordinated changes in visceral systems which are peculiar to a vomiting reaction.