Commissural and ipsilateral internuclear connection of vestibular nuclear complex of the cat

Abstract

Commissural and ipsilateral intrinsic connections of the vestibular nuclear complex of cats were investigated using retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP). HRP was microiontophoretically injected into limited areas (0.2-0.5 mm in diameter) of the respective vestibular nuclei. In the commissural connections, major fibers were observed between the bilateral superior vestibular nuclei (SVN) and between the bilateral descending vestibular nuclei (DVN); a moderate number of fibers was found from the medial vestibular nucleus (MVN) to the contralateral MVN, SVN and lateral vestibular nucleus (LVN) and from the DVN to the contralateral LVN. Minor commissural connections were detected between the bilateral LVN. The ipsilateral internuclear connections of the vestibular nuclear complex were: (1) from the LVN, MVN and DVN to the SVN, (2) from the MVN and DVN to the LVN and (3) from the MVN to the DVN. Minor ipsilateral intrinsic connections were found from the SVN to the MVN.