The central location of the motor neurons to the stapedius muscle in the cat

Abstract

In two cats and 10 newborn kittens, retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase was used to locate the motor neurons of the stapedius muscle. Following injection of tracer into the muscle, labeled neurons were observed in the interface between the facial nerve nucleus and the caudal end of the lateral superior olivary nucleus. Some marked neurons were also located dorsal and ventral to the facial nucleus. The number of labelled cells varied from a low of 34 to a high of 199.