Organization of the pontine nuclei

Abstract

The pontine nuclei provide the cerebellar hemispheres with the majority of their mossy fiber afferents, and receive their main input from the cerebral cortex. Even though the vast majority of pontine neurons send their axons to the cerebellar cortex, and are contacted monosynaptically by (glutamatergic) corticopontine fibers, the information-processing taking place is not well understood. In addition to typical projection neurons, the pontine nuclei contain putative GABA-ergic interneurons and complex synaptic arrangements. The corticopontine projection is characterized by a precise but highly divergent terminal pattern. Large and functionally diverse parts of the cerebral cortex contribute; in the monkey the most notable exception is the almost total lack of projections from large parts of the prefrontal and temporal cortices. Within corticopontine projections from visual and somatosensory areas there is a de-emphasis of central vision and distal parts of the extremities as compared with other connections of these sensory areas. Subcorticopontine projections provide only a few percent of the total input to the pontine nuclei. Certain cell groups, such as the reticular formation, project in a diffuse manner whereas other nuclei, such as the mammillary nucleus, project to restricted pontine regions only, partially converging with functionally related corticopontine connections. The pontocerebellar projection is characterized by a highly convergent pattern, even though there is also marked divergence. Neurons projecting to a single cerebellar folium appear to be confined to a lamella-shaped volume in the pontine nuclei. The organization of the pontine nuclei suggests that they ensure that information from various, functionally diverse, parts of the cerebral cortex and subcortical nuclei are brought together and integrated in the cerebellar cortex.