Cortical projections to the nucleus of the optic tract and dorsal terminal nucleus and to the dorsolateral pontine nucleus in macaques: A dual retrograde tracing study

The nucleus of the optic tract and dorsal terminal nucleus of the accessory optic system (NOT‐DTN) along with the dorsolateral pontine nucleus (DLPN) have been shown to play a role in controlling slow eye movements and in maintaining stable vision during head movements. Both nuclei are known to rece...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of comparative neurology (1911) 2002-03, Vol.444 (2), p.144-158
Main Authors: Distler, Claudia, Mustari, Michael J., Hoffmann, Klaus-Peter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Axonal Transport - physiology
Cerebral Cortex - anatomy & histology
Cerebral Cortex - chemistry
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
cortico-pontine
cortico-pretectal
Female
Fluorescent Dyes - analysis
laminar distribution
Macaca fascicularis
Macaca mulatta
Male
Microscopy, Fluorescence
optokinetic reflex
Pons - anatomy & histology
Pons - chemistry
Pons - physiology
pulvinar
smooth pursuit
Staining and Labeling - methods
superior temporal sulcus
Visual Pathways - anatomy & histology
Visual Pathways - chemistry
Visual Pathways - physiology
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Summary:The nucleus of the optic tract and dorsal terminal nucleus of the accessory optic system (NOT‐DTN) along with the dorsolateral pontine nucleus (DLPN) have been shown to play a role in controlling slow eye movements and in maintaining stable vision during head movements. Both nuclei are known to receive cortical input from striate and extrastriate cortex. To determine to what degree this cortical input arises from the same areas and potentially from the same individual neurons, we placed different retrograde tracers into the NOT‐DTN and the DLPN. In the ipsilateral cortical hemisphere the two projections mainly overlapped in the posterior part of the superior temporal sulcus (STS) comprising the middle temporal area (MT), the middle superior temporal area (MST), and the visual area in the fundus of the STS (FST) and the surrounding cortex. In these areas, neurons projecting to the NOT‐DTN or the DLPN were closely intermingled. Nevertheless, only 3–11% of the labeled neurons in MT and MST were double‐labeled in our various cases. These results indicate that the cortical input to the NOT‐DTN and DLPN arises from largely separate neuronal subpopulations in the motion sensitive areas in the posterior STS. Only a small percentage of the projection neurons bifurcate to supply both targets. These findings are discussed in relation to the optokinetic and the smooth pursuit system. J. Comp. Neurol. 444:144–158, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ISSN:0021-9967
1096-9861
DOI:10.1002/cne.10127