1991 Volume 1991 Issue Supplement42 Pages 24-34
We investigated intragastric pressure and respiration induced by electric stimulation of the semicircular canal nerve in 20 white domestic rabbits. A stainless steel bipolar electrode with a diameter of 20 μm was implanted chronically in the horizontal or anterior canal nerve at each animal. The intragastric pressure was recorded by using a balloontransducer system during electric stimulation of the canal nerve through the electrode without general anesthesia or under slight Nembutal anesthesia. Both the initial depression with a latency of 40 msec and the following second depression with a longer duration in the intragastric pressure induced by each electric pulse train were observed. Prolonged depression of the pressure, suppression of spontaneous peristalsis in the stomach and forced respiration occurred following strong stimulation for a relatively long time. Those responses were suggested to be induced by canal stimulation via the sympathetic nervous system. Thus, the forced respiration may be involved in vestibular vomiting.
