Projections from the lateral and interposed cerebellar nuclei to the thalamus of the rat: a light and electron microscopic study using single and double anterograde labelling

Abstract

The lateral and interposed cerebellar nuclei may have different functions in the control of movement. Efferent fibres from both nuclei project predominantly to areas of the thalamus, which in turn project to the motor cortex. In this study, single and double anterograde-tracing techniques have been used to examine and compare the pathways from the lateral and interposed nuclei to the thalamus in the rat by using both light and electron microscopy to look for evidence of organisational or structural features that may underlie the proposed functional differences between these nuclei. Terminals from the lateral nucleus were found to be located most medially in the thalamus, predominantly in the ventral lateral nucleus and the rostral pole of the posterior nuclear group. Terminals from the posterior interposed nucleus were located slightly rostral and lateral to those from the lateral nucleus, mainly around the border between the ventral lateral nucleus and the ventral posterior medial nucleus. Terminals from the anterior interposed nucleus were located slightly rostral and lateral to those from the posterior interposed nucleus, predominantly in the rostral pole of the ventral posterior lateral nucleus. Terminals from the lateral and interposed nuclei were also found in double anterograde-tracing experiments to be nonoverlapping in the regions between these main areas of termination. The structure of terminals from the lateral and interposed nuclei, however, as well as their synaptic relationship with thalamic neurones, were found to be similar. The terminals are large and form synapses with proximal dendrites of thalamic neurones. They contained round vesicles and formed multiple synaptic contacts with dendritic shafts, as well as dendritic spines. The findings indicate that information from the lateral and interposed nuclei is processed in separate regions of the thalamus but that the mode of synaptic transfer to thalamic neurones is likely to be similar for the two projections.