Termination areas of primary afferent fibers of the trigeminal nerve in the rat.
The cobalt-labelling technique was used to investigate the termination areas of trigeminal primary afferent fibers. The familiar somatotopic arrangement of fibers and terminals of the three divisions of the trigeminal nerve was recognized both in the spinal tract and in the nuclear complex of the trigeminus. The spinal tract could be traced as far as the 3rd cervical segment of the spinal cord where fibers crossed to the contralateral side. The different divisions of the nuclear complex could be unambiguously defined on the basis of the pattern of fiber terminations. The nucleus principalis was characterized by the even distribution of terminals in the nucleus. The nucleus spinalis was characterized by small bundles of fibers of intranuclear origin, which broke up the even distribution pattern of terminals. The presence of mesencephalic trigeminal fibers in the nucleus oralis distinguished this nucleus from the nucleus interpolaris. The nucleus caudalis was recognized on the ground of its striated structure. Primary trigeminal afferent fibers were located in the following sites: in the solitary nucleus, in the lateral part of the reticular formation, in the dorsal-column nuclei and in the superior vestibular nuclei. Primary fiber terminations could not be observed in the cerebellum.
D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D014276:Trigeminal Nerve / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D014278:Trigeminal Nuclei / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology