Pathway of the primary afferent nerve fibres serving proprioception in monkey extraocular muscles.
Following intracranial section of either the oculomotor or ophthalmic nerve, Wallerian degeneration studies revealed 1.38-3.7% of nerve fibres in the nerves to the inferior and superior rectus muscles were of ophthalmic nerve origin; more than half of them were unmyelinated. The results of the two experiments were complementary. The proportion of fibres identified as sensory is substantially smaller than the 10%, estimated in other studies, required to serve muscle receptors. These results indicate, contrary to some reports, that a substantial majority of proprioceptive fibres are conducted from extraocular muscles to the brainstem in the motor nerves and that their somata are not housed in the trigeminal ganglion.
Gentle
A
A
Department of Optometry and Visual Science, City University, London, UK.
Ruskell
G
G
D000818:Animals; D003714:Denervation; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009410:Nerve Degeneration; D009434:Neural Pathways; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009801:Oculomotor Muscles / Q000294:innervation*; D009802:Oculomotor Nerve / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*