Neurological deficit in cats with lesions of the olivocebellar system.

Seven cats were used for evaluating the chronic neurological deficit which follows destruction of the inferior olive unilaterally. Comparable data were obtained in four animals in which the brachium pontis was completely divided. Three pyramidal sections completed the controls. Removal of the inferior olive produces a reduced version of cerebellar deficit, including cephalic and sometimes axial intention tremor, truncal ataxia, dysmetria, rebound, decomposition of movements, and tendency to leave the limbs in abnormal positions. The results indicate that the inferior olive is linked to the entire process of cerebellar functioning, whether mediated through climbing input, mossy input, or both. At about ten days the animal commences to stand upon the forelegs, and thereafter a protracted compensation occurs including much recovery in animals kept 72 days. The pontine lesion animals show a relatively minor initial deficit