The importance of sympathetic neural influences in regulating coronary blood flow has been well established. However, central nervous system pathways responsible for these effects are largely unknown. In a feline model, we have identified a site in medullary reticular formation that may play a role in neural control of the coronary circulation. Changes in heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (AP), Doppler coronary flow velocity (CBFV), and femoral flow velocity (FBFV) were measured in 67 anesthetized cats. Electrical stimulation in a specific region of the right medullary lateral reticular formation produced elevations in HR (12 +/- 2% from 156 beats/min), AP (41 +/- 6% from 83 mmHg), CBFV (33 +/- 7%), and femoral vascular resistance index (136 +/- 27%). After beta-adrenergic blockade (propranolol), a transient (5-15 s) stimulus-induced decrease in CBFV was observed in 67% of animals, with a 55 +/- 6% increase in coronary vascular resistance index, not the result of autoregulation. Ipsilateral stellate ganglionectomy or systemic alpha 1-adrenergic blockade abolished the CBFV decrement. Microinjection of L-glutamate into this medullary region failed to elicit either pressor or coronary vasomotor responses. It is concluded that electrical stimulation in a specific site within medullary reticular formation produces neurogenic coronary vasoconstriction as part of a more generalized activation of central sympathetic fibers. This brain stem site may play an important role in reflex or behaviorally mediated coronary responses.