We conclude that the hypothalamic-spinal system selectively affects the transmission of nociceptive information of projecting spinal cord cells. We found that only nociceptive evoked responses in spinothalamic tract and postsynaptic dorsal column neurons were significantly inhibited (48.1 +/- 4.6 and 47.7 +/- 8.2%, respectively) and non-nociceptive responses were not affected by paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus stimulation. Hence, juxtacellular recordings were made to iontophoretically label the recorded neurons with a fluorescent dye and identify the recorded projecting cells. Extra- and intracellular recordings from dorsal column postsynaptic spinomedullary neurons in the cat. Google Scholar Lu GW, Bennett GJ, Nishikawa N, Hoffert MJ, Dubner R. Additionally, in order to label the projecting dorsal horn neurons, we injected fluorescent retrograde neuronal tracers into the ipsilateral gracilis nucleus and contralateral ventroposterolateral thalamic nucleus. The effect of dorsal column stimulation on the nociceptive response of dorsal horn cells and its relevance for pain suppression. The projecting spinothalamic tract and postsynaptic dorsal column system were identified antidromically. In anaesthetized rats, single-unit extracellular and juxtacellular recordings were made from dorsal horn lumbar segments, which receive afferent input from the toe and hind-paw regions. The main purpose of the present study was to identify which of the neurons projecting to supraspinal structures to transmit somatic information are modulated by the hypothalamic-spinal descending activation. In addition, we have proposed that oxytocin indirectly inhibits sensory transmission in dorsal horn neurons by exciting spinal inhibitory GABAergic interneurons. Overall, 62 of Clarkes column dSC neurons exhibited inhibitory synaptic responses to dorsal column stimulation, with about half of these exhibiting inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) alone. Previously, we demonstrated that stimulation of the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus diminishes the nociceptive dorsal horn neuronal responses, and this decrease was mediated by oxytocin in the rat.