Responses of bradykinin sensitive tooth-pulp driven neurons in cat cerebral cortex

Abstract

The properties of single cortical neurons responding to electrical stimulation of the tooth-pulp and to intrapulpal application of bradykinin were studied in the cat. The activities of tooth-pulp driven neurons (TPNs) were recorded from the middle and anterior parts of the coronal gyrus of the cerebral cortex. Bradykinin-sensitive tooth-pulp driven neurons (BK-TPNs) were located in layer IV of area 3b of the anterior part of the coronal gyrus. These neurons had a large cutaneous oro-facial receptive field and received a nociceptive input from the facial skin as well as from the tooth-pulp. The BK-TPNs had a higher threshold and longer latency to electrical stimulation than TPNs insensitive to bradykinin (non BK-TPNs). These findings suggest that BK-TPNs in this cortical area may be involved in sensory processing of noxious information from trigeminal regions.