Non-motoneurons in the facial and motor trigeminal nuclei projecting to the cerebellar flocculus in the cat

Abstract

The cerebellar projection from the facial and motor trigeminal nuclei was studied in the cat by means of retrograde axonal transport of wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase and fluorescent tracers. The feline facial nucleus was cytoarchitectonically subdivided into ventromedial, ventrolateral, lateral, dorsal, intermediate and medial divisions (see Papez 1927), and the motor trigeminal nucleus into medial, ventral, intermediate, lateral and dorsal divisions. The neurons in the facial and motor trigeminal nuclei were classified as small (ovoid to round cells with a maximum diameter of the cell body of about 20 microns) or large (polygonal to round cells with maximum diameter of about 40 microns). After floccular injections of the wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase complex, retrogradely labelled cells were found throughout the facial nucleus, but especially in its medial and dorsal divisions. In the motor trigeminal nucleus, labelled neurons were found only in the ventral, intermediate and lateral divisions. Cases with tracer deposition (implants or injections) in other parts of the cerebellar cortex or nuclei were all negative. All facial and motor trigeminal neurons labelled after floccular injections were smaller than the neurons labelled after injections in the facial mimic and masticatory muscles, and only single-labelled neurons were found following floccular injections of Fluoro-Gold and muscular injections of rhodamine-B-isothiocyanate in the same animals. These observations strongly suggest that the neurons in the facial and motor trigeminal nuclei which project to flocculus are of the non-motoneuron type.