The motor innervation of the single-bellied digastric muscle in the rabbit: a retrograde horseradish peroxidase study.
The digastric muscle of the rabbit consists of a single anterior belly which inserts onto the lower jaw. Horseradish peroxidase was injected into the muscle and into subcutaneous regions overlying the lower jaw to determine the sites of origin of the motor innervation to both the digastric muscle and the platysma muscles. After digastric muscle injection, labelled cells were found in the ipsilateral retrotrigeminal nucleus as well as in the intermediate subnucleus of the main facial nucleus on both sides. Subcutaneous injections produced labelling which was found bilaterally in the intermediate subnucleus and in the ventromedial portion of the medial subnucleus. These results are interpreted in relation to the common embryological origin of these two muscles and their innervation.
D000818:Animals; D005152:Facial Muscles / Q000294:innervation*; D005154:Facial Nerve / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008297:Male; D008340:Mandibular Nerve / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008410:Masticatory Muscles / Q000294:innervation*; D011149:Pons / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D011817:Rabbits; D014278:Trigeminal Nuclei / Q000033:anatomy & histology*