Olivocerebellar and cerebelloolivary connections of the oculomotor region of the fastigial nucleus in the macaque monkey

Abstract

Anatomical connections of the caudal portion of the fastigial nucleus (FN) with the inferior olive (IO) were studied in macaque monkeys with wheat-germ-agglutinin-conjugated horseradish peroxidase (WGA/HRP) and HRP. When injected HRP was confined to a caudal portion of the FN, retrogradely labeled Purkinje cells (P cells) appeared in the oculomotor vermis. We defined the area that receives the projection from vermal lobule VII as the fastigial oculomotor region. The same HRP injection resulted in retrograde labeling of IO neurons in an area of group b (of Bowman and Sladek: J. Comp. Neurol. 152:299-316, '73) of the contralateral medial accessory olive (MAO). This area was designated as the Z-portion because in the coronal section it appears like the letter "Z." Retrogradely labeled IO neurons were also found in the Z-portion when HRP was injected into the oculomotor vermis, indicating that neurons in this portion project to both the fastigial and vermal oculomotor regions. Anterogradely labeled axons from the contralateral fastigial oculomotor region also terminated in the Z-portion. When the effective site included a region anterior to the fastigial oculomotor region, labeled P cells appeared in lobule V and labeled IO neurons appeared in group a. Labeled terminals of fastigial fibers were also found in group a. When the effective site included a region ventral to the oculomotor region, labeled P cells appeared in vermal lobules VIII and IX and labeled IO neurons appeared in caudal parts of a and b, in addition to group c. HRP injection into the posterior interposed nucleus (PIN) resulted in labeling of P cells in the paravermal zone and of IO neurons in the rostral two-thirds of the MAO and the dorsal accessory olive (DAO). The location of the labeled terminals coincided with the region where the densest labeling of IO neurons was found. Thus, the olivary projections to both the cerebellar cortex and deep cerebellar nuclei and the nucleoolivary projection exhibited a closely related topographical organization.