title: Vestibular afferent innervation in the vestibular efferent nucleus of rats.
abstract: To delineate the vestibular afferent innervation in the vestibular efferent nucleus in the brainstem, neurobiotin or biotinylated dextran amine was injected into the superior Scarpa's ganglion of Sprague-Dawley rats. The locations of vestibular efferent neurons in the brainstem were identified by neutral red or choline acetyltransferase staining. Of the three pairs of vestibular efferent nuclei, labeled fibers and bouton-like endings were found only within the dorsolateral vestibular efferent nucleus on the ipsilateral side. Labeled afferent terminals with bouton-like varicosities were observed in the vicinity of cell bodies or dendrites of these efferent neurons. Our findings suggest that vestibular primary afferents may exert direct influence on vestibular efferent neurons, constituting an ipsilateral close-loop arrangement in the central vestibular system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong, PR China.
authors.forename: Chuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yong-Kui
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhen-Long
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Daisy K Y
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Shum
authors.forename: Ying-Shing
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001710:Biotin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase / Q000378:metabolism; D004525:Efferent Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009476:Neurons, Efferent / Q000378:metabolism*; D009499:Neutral Red / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013997:Time Factors; D014725:Vestibular Nerve / Q000166:cytology*; D014726:Vestibular Nuclei / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: C070614:neurobiotin; D009499:Neutral Red; D001710:Biotin; D002795:Choline O-Acetyltransferase