Summary
The organization of the projection from the pretectal region to the inferior olive in the cat was studied by means of retrograde protein tracing and experimental degeneration. Small injections of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were made into various parts of the inferior olive from a ventral approach. The number of nerve cells in the pretectal nuclei retrogradely labelled with HRP was counted and put in relation to the site of injection. Labelled cells were only found in the posterior pretectal nucleus (NPP), the nucleus of the optic tract (NOT) and the anterior pretectal nucleus (NPA). Most labelled cells were found in NPP and NOT in cases in which the rostral or caudal levels of the principal olive were labelled by the injection. NAP labelling occurred in one case with a very rostral injection of the inferior olive. Unilateral electrolytical destruction of the pretectal region produced terminal degeneration in the ipsilateral inferior olive. The heaviest ipsilateral degeneration was found in the upper half of the principal and dorsal accessory olives, and caudally in the ventrolateral outgrowth, the dorsal cap and nucleus β with the adjacent part of the medial accessory olive. Some functional implications of the findings are discussed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abols IA, Basbaum AI (1979) The posterior pretectal nucleus: Evidence for a direct projection to the inferior olive of the cat. Neurosci Lett 13:111–116
Alley K, Baker R, Simpson JI (1975) Afferents to the vestibulo-cerebellum and the origin of the visual climbing fibers in the rabbit. Brain Res 98:582–589
Barmack NH, Hess DT (1980) Multiple-unit activity evoked in dorsal cap of inferior olive of the rabbit by visual stimulation. J Neurophysiol 43:151–164
Brodal A (1940) Modification of Gudden method for study of cerebral localization. Arch Neurol Psychiat (Chic) 43:46–58
Brodal A, Kawamura K (1980) The olivocerebellar projection: a review. Adv Anat Embryol Cell Biol 64:VII+140
Brown JT, Chan-Palay V, Palay SL (1976) Afferent input to the inferior olivary complex and its relation to cerebellar function. Neurosci Abstr 2:97
Brown JT, Chan-Palay V, Palay SL (1977) A study of afferent input to the inferior olivary complex in the rat by retrograde axonal transport of horseradish peroxidase. J Comp Neurol 176:1–22
Burde RM, Loewy AD (1980) Central origin of oculomotor parasympathetic neurons in the monkey. Brain Res 198:434–439
Collewijn H (1975a) Direction-selective units in the rabbit's nucleus of the optic tract. Brain Res 100:489–508
Collewijn H (1975b) Oculomotor areas in the rabbit's midbrain and pretectum. J Neurobiol 6:3–22
Graybiel AM (1974) Some efferents of the pretectal region in the cat. Anat Rec 178:365
Haddad GM, Demer IL, Robinson DA (1980) The effect of lesions of the dorsal cap of the inferior olive on the vestibulo-ocular and optokinetic systems of the cat. Brain Res 185:265–275
Hoffmann K-P, Behrend K, Schoppmann A (1976) A direct afferent visual pathway from the nucleus of the optic tract to the inferior olive in the cat. Brain Res 115:150–153
Itaya SK, Williams TH, Engel EL (1978) Anterograde transport of horseradish peroxidase enhanced by poly-L-ornithine. Brain Res 150:170–176
Kanaseki T, Sprague JM (1974) Anatomical organization of pretectal nuclei and tectal laminae in the cat. J Comp Neurol 158:319–338
Linauts M, Martin GF (1978) An autoradiographic study of midbrain-diencephalic projections to the inferior olivary nucleus in the opossum (Didelphis virginiana). J Comp Neurol 179:325–354
Maekawa K (1975) Climbing and mossy fiber visual pathways to the cerebellar flocculus. J Physiol Soc Jpn 37:366–367
Maekawa K, Simpson JI (1972) Climbing fiber activation of Purkinje cells in the flocculus by impulses transferred through the visual pathway. Brain Res 39:245–251
Maekawa K, Simpson JI (1973) Climbing fiber responses evoked in vestibulocerebellum of rabbit from visual system. J Neurophysiol 36:649–666
Maekawa K, Takeda T (1976) Electrophysiological identification of the climbing and mossy fiber pathways from the rabbit's retina to the contralateral cerebellar flocculus. Brain Res 109:169–174
Maekawa K, Takeda T (1977) Afferent pathways from the visual system to the cerebellar flocculus in the rabbit. In: Baker R, Berthoz A (eds) Control of gaze by brain stem neurons. Developments in neuroscience, Vol 1 Elsevier Amsterdam, pp 187–195
Maekawa K, Takeda T (1979) Origin of descending afferents to the rostral part of dorsal cap of inferior olive which transfers contralateral optic activities to the flocculus. A horseradish peroxidase study. Brain Res 172:393–405
Martin GF, Dom R, King JS, Robards M, Watson CRR (1975) The inferior olivary nucleus of the opossum (Didelphis marsupialis virginiana), its organization and connections. J Comp Neurol 160:507–534
Mesulam M-M (1978) Tetramethylbenzidine for horseradish peroxidase neurohistochemistry: A non-carcinogenic blue reaction-product with superior sensitivity for visualizing neural afferents and efferents. J Histochem Cytochem 26:106–117
Mizuno N, Mochizuki K, Akimoto C, Matsushima R (1973) Pretectal projections to the inferior olive in the rabbit. Exp Neurol 39:498–506
Mizuno N, Nakamura Y, Iwahori N (1974) An electron microscope study of the dorsal cap of the inferior olive in the rabbit, with special reference to the pretectoolivary fibers. Brain Res 77:385–395
Nauta WJH (1957) Silver impregnation of degenerating axons. In: Windle WF (ed) New Research Techniques of Neuroanatomy. Thomas Springfield Ill pp. 17–26
Robinson DA (1976) Adaptive gain control of vestibuloocular reflex by the cerebellum. J Neurophysiol 39:954–969
Schoppmann A, Hoffmann K-P (1979) A comparison of visual responses in two pretectal nuclei and in the superior colliculus of the cat. Exp Brain Res 35:495–510
Takeda T, Maekawa K (1976) The origin of the pretecto-olivary tract. A study using the horseradish peroxidase method. Brain Res 117:319–325
Takeda T, Maekawa K (1980) Bilateral visual inputs to the dorsal cap of inferior olive: Differential localization and inhibitory interactions. Exp Brain Res 39:461–471
Terasawa K, Otani K, Yamada J (1979) Descending pathways of the nucleus of the optic tract in the rat. Brain Res 173:405–417
Walberg F (1974) Descending connections from the mesencephalon to the inferior olive: An experimental study in the cat. Exp Brain Res 21:145–156
Walberg F, Nordby T, Dietrichs E (1980) A note on the anterograde transport of horseradish peroxidase within the olivocerebellar fibres. Exp Brain Res 40:233–236
Weber JT, Harting JK (1980) The efferent projections of the pretectal complex: An autoradiographic and horseradish peroxidase analysis. Brain Res 194:1–28
Weber JT, Huerta MF, Behan M, Royce GJ, Harting JK (1978) The projection of the pretectum upon the inferior olivary complex: An autoradiographic and horseradish peroxidase analysis in the tree shrew. Neurosci Abstr 4:649
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Walberg, F., Nordby, T., Hoffmann, K.P. et al. Olivary afferents from the pretectal nuclei in the cat. Anat Embryol 161, 291–304 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00301827
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00301827