Efferent Connections of the Cerebellum of the Goldfish, Carassius auratus

Abstract

Efferent fiber connections of the corpus and valvula cerebelli in the goldfish, Carassius auratus, were studied using an anterograde neural fiber tracing technique. Efferent targets of the corpus cerebelli are the posterior parvocellular preoptic nucleus, the ventromedial and ventrolateral thalamic nucleus, dorsal posterior thalamic nucleus, periventricular nucleus of posterior tuberculum, dorsal periventricular pretectal nucleus, inferior lobe, optic tectum, torus semicircularis, nucleus of the medial longitudinal fascicle, nucleus ruber, dorsal tegmental nucleus, nucleus lateralis valvulae, reticular formation, torus longitudinalis, and the medial and lateral lobe of the valvula cerebelli. Projections to the posterior parvocellular preoptic nucleus and the periventricular nucleus of posterior tuberculum are not reported in previous studies. Efferent targets of the medial lobe of the valvula cerebelli are similar to that of the corpus cerebelli except for lacking a projection to the inferior lobe and torus longitudinalis, but showing one to the corpus cerebelli. On the other hand, the lateral lobe of the valvula cerebelli projects only to the dorsal zone of the periventricular hypothalamus, the diffuse nucleus of the inferior lobe, corpus mamillare, vagal lobe and the corpus cerebelli. There are topographical projections from the lateral valvula to the inferior lobe. These results suggest that the function of the corpus and medial lobe of the valvula cerebelli include not only motor control but also functions similar to the mammalian higher cerebellum. This study also suggests that there are obvious functional divisions between the medial and lateral lobes of the valvula cerebelli.