Properties of Renshaw-like cells excited by recurrent collaterals of pudendal motoneurons in the cat

Although anatomical studies have indicated pudendal motoneurons to give off recurrent collaterals, they are not considered to make synapses onto interneurons, such as Renshaw cells, and rather terminate their own signals. No study till date has examined interneurons being driven by recurrent collaterals of pudendal motoneurons. Here, we aimed to investigate the existence of Renshaw cells driven by pudendal motoneurons along with the recurrent inhibition of the latter. Extracellular recordings were obtained from the ventral horn of the sacral spinal cord of anesthetized cats. Dorsal roots were sectioned, and motor axons were electrically stimulated. Renshaw-like cells driven by recurrent collaterals, with high-frequency firings at short latency discharge, were observed around Onuf’s nucleus. However, the recurrent inhibitory post-synaptic potentials were not recorded by intracellular recordings from the pudendal motoneurons. In summary, we found Renshaw-like cells driven by pudendal motoneurons, but we could not identify the synaptic connection of these neurons.