Long term modification of rubral activity after inferior olive destruction

Abstract The long term effects of the inferior olive degeneration on red nucleus activity were studied in the rat. The animals were injected with 3-acetylpyridine to produce a pharmacological destruction of the inferior olive and were then used for acute experiments at 1–2, 5–7, 14–18, 29–37, 81–110 and 236–255 days later. After degeneration of the inferior olive, there was an ‘initial period’ lasting for a few days, characterized by a low discharge frequency of the red nucleus neurones. A ‘period of adaptation’ followed during the first month, characterized by a slow recovery towards the control firing rates of the rubral units. Nevertheless, the temporal distribution of the discharges was not recovered since the firing became organized in a bursting activity. From 1 up to 8 months, the normal unit activity was not restored. The hypothesis is advanced that the suppression of the inferior olive which increases the cerebellar inhibition, produces a consequent disfacilitation of red nucleus activity which persists for a few days. Then at increasing survival times, a progressive compensation takes place without a real restoration of the initial rubral activity.