1 In in vivo experiments, DOI (a 5-HT 2 receptor agonist), MK-212 (a 5-HT 2C receptor agonist), and BW-723C86 (a 5-HT 2B receptor agonist) were applied by ionophoresis to neurones in the rat nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) receiving vagal a erent input. 2 The majority of the putative`monosynaptically' vagal activated cells were inhibited by both MK-212 (4/6) and DOI (2/4), but una ected by . In contrast,`polysynaptically' activated NTS cells were excited by both BW-723C86 (13/19) and DOI (9/10). Inactive`intermediate' cells were inhibited by BW-723C86 (9/12), MK-212 (5/6) and DOI (3/4), whilst active cells of this group were excited by BW-723C86 (7/13) and DOI (5/5). 3 The selective 5-HT 2B receptor antagonist LY-202715 signi®cantly reduced the excitatory actions of BW-723C86 on`intermediate' and`polysynaptic' cells (13/13), but not the inhibitory e ects observed on inactive Group 2 cells (n=5) whereas the selective 5-HT 2C receptor antagonist RS-102221 reversed the inhibitory e ects of MK-212 and DOI on`monosynaptic and`intermediate' neurones. 4 Cardio-pulmonary a erent stimulation inhibited two of four putative`monosynaptically' activated calls and all four inactive intermediate cells. These were also inhibited by DOI and MK-212. In contrast, cardio-pulmonary a erents excited all ®ve active intermediate cells and all six putative`polysynaptically' activated NTS cells, while all were also previously excited by BW-723C86 and/or DOI. 5 In conclusion, these data demonstrate that neurones in the NTS are a ected di erently by 5-HT 2 receptor ligands, in regard of their vagal postsynaptic location, the type of cardio-pulmonary a erent they receive and the di erent 5-HT 2 receptors activated.