PROJECTIONS OF THE CEREBELLAR NUCLEI TO THE SPINAL CORD——A HORSERADISH PEROXIDASE STUDY IN THE RAT / 解剖学报

ABSTRACT

The projections of the cerebellar nuclei to the spinal cord were studied in the rat following injections of HRP into the cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral cord. Numerous HRP-positive neurons were found in the fastigial nucleus (F) and the posterior interpositus nucleus (IP) on both sides, but more on the contralateral side. In the F labelled neurons were mainly distributed in the ventrolateral and medial part of the middle portion of the nucleus, and considerable amount of labelled cells were found in the bundles of the cerebellar corticovestibular fibers as well. In the IP labelled neurons were seen only in the medial part of the nucleus. In addition, a few labelled cells were also found in the dentate nucleus (D) bilaterally. The present study suggests that the neurons of the F, IP and D project their fibers to C_4, a few fibers may extend caudally to C_8.