The aim of this study was to determine whether trigeminal subnucleus caudalis (Vc) neurons show differential inhibitory effects produced by parabrachial area (PBA) or nucleus raphe magnus (NRM) conditioning stimulation (CS) on their A-fiber versus C-fiber inputs electrically evoked from cutaneous and deep tissues. A total of 55 Vc neurons in urethane/chloralose-anesthetized rats were functionally classified as low-threshold mechanoreceptive (LTM; n = 12), nociceptive (wide-dynamic-range, WDR, and nociceptive-specific, NS; n = 11), deep (D; n = 6), or nociceptive convergent neurons receiving skin and deep inputs (S+D; n = 26). Most neuronal responses were tested for both PBA and NRM CS (20-40 microA) delivered 50 msec prior to test stimulation (1.1-1.5 x threshold) of their mechanoreceptive field (RF) or the hypoglossal nerve (XII). Inhibition of responses to both cutaneous and deep A-fiber and C-fiber inputs occurred in over two-thirds of the Vc neurons tested in each neuronal class, and facilitation of responses was only occasionally found. In general, both PBA (ipsi- and contralateral) and NRM CS produced profound inhibition of electrically evoked responses in all neuron types, e.g., responses reduced to mean values of 50-53% of control in LTM neurons, 35-46% in WDR, NS, and S+D neurons, and 61-63% in D neurons. No significant difference in the magnitude of their inhibitory effects was found between PBA and NRM, and between Vc neuronal responses to A- and C-fiber inputs irrespective of their origin from skin or deep tissues.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)