Direct and Indirect Thalamic Afferents Arising from the Vestibular Nuclear Complex of Rats: Medial and Spinal Vestibular Nuclei

A detailed map of the vestibular nuclear complex of the guinea pig has been established by Gstoettner and Burian (1987), using cytoarchitectonic (cresyl violet staining) and fiberarchitectonic criteria. However, the exact borders between the different subdivisions are not always evident in Nissl stained sections. In the present study, serial sections of the vestibular nuclei of the guinea pig were stained to visualize acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity, and compared with corresponding sections stained with cresyl violet. All of the subdivisions of the vestibular nuclear complex previously described are more readily distinguished in AChE than in Nissl preparations. The AChE reactivity also shows that the medial vestibular nucleus extends more rostrally than previously described. Furthermore, it questions whether the area classically referred to as the rostral pole of the descending vestibular nucleus belongs to the descending vestibular nucleus or to the lateral vestibular nucleus (LV). Finally, a morphometric analysis performed on cresyl violet stained sections shows that (1) in the caudal LV, the neurons of the ventromedial extension are smaller than those of the dorsolateral extension and that (2) in the rostral LV, the ventromedial division contains a larger ratio of smaller neurons than the dorsolateral one.

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Vestibular nuclear complex in cattle: Topography, morphology, cytoarchitecture and lumbo-sacral projections

Journal of Vestibular Research ◽

10.3233/ves-2007-17102 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 9-24 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Annamaria Grandis ◽

Cristiano Bombardi ◽

Beatrice Travostini ◽

Arcangelo Gentile ◽

Monica Joechler ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Vestibular Nucleus ◽

Vestibular Nuclei ◽

Analysis Software ◽

Fluorescent Tracer ◽

Minimum Diameter ◽

Nuclear Complex ◽

Dorsal Portion ◽

Vestibular Nuclear Complex ◽

Intermediate Size

The topography and the main characteristics of the vestibular nuclear complex (VNC) in cattle have been studied in serially transversally cut Nissl and Gles-stained sections. By using computerized image analysis software, the cell size, the maximum and minimum diameter of the neurons of each vestibular nucleus were obtained. These parameters were statistically analyzed by comparing the cell population from different nuclei and different parts of each nucleus. Furthermore, in order to investigate the lumbo-sacral projections, the fluorescent tracer Fast Blue was injected into the L6-S1 spinal cord of three calves. Among the vestibular nuclei, the superior was the least extensive rostro-caudally, the medial was the most extensive and contained the smallest cells, the lateral showed the largest neurons, and the descending nucleus contained cells of intermediate size which decreased in a rostrocaudal direction. Concerning the lumbo-sacral projections of the bovine VNC, the present study showed that only the fibers coming from the lateral vestibular nucleus reached the L6-S1 spinal cord. The labelled neurons were most heavily concentrated in the dorsal portion of this nucleus, but scattered neurons were also observed throughout the entire extension of the nucleus. The differences between the descriptions of cattle and other species were described.

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