Projection of primary vestibular afferent fibres to the cochlear nucleus in the guinea pig

Abstract

After tracing the superior branch of the vestibular nerve and the macula sacculi by means of the neuronal tracers horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and wheat germ conjugated horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP), a conspicuous fibre bundle running into the cochlear nucleus could be observed. The HRP-labeled axons travel caudally through the descending vestibular nucleus, enter the cochlear nucleus at a level caudal to subgroup y and terminate at cells situated between the dorsal and posteroventral cochlear nucleus. Considering recent electrophysiological studies, it is reasonable to imply that these fibres are involved with the transduction of acoustic stimuli.