Direct and indirect "cortico"-rubral and rubro-cerebellar cortical projections in the pigeon

In birds the red nucleus is the most rostral cell group in the brain having projections to all levels of the spinal cord (Cabot et al., Prog. Brain Res., 57:79-108, 1982), but its sources of afferents are incompletely known. In order to determine these, a series retrograde and anterograde tracing experiments was carried out, largely with cholera toxin B-chain conjugated to horseradish peroxidase. The results show that a sparse and diffuse projection to the red nucleus arises from deep regions of the hyperstriatum accessorium (HA) of the anterior Wulst, and that a much more dense projection arises from the caudal part of the nucleus principalis precommissuralis and the medial part of the medial spiriform nucleus (SpMm). These last two sources were themselves shown to receive a substantial projection from HA of the anterior Wulst. The red nucleus was also shown to project upon the cerebellar cortex of lobule VI, and SpM upon the cerebellar cortex of lobules VI through IX (Karten and Finger, Brain Res., 102:335-338, 1976; Clarke, J. Comp. Neurol., 174:535-552, 1977). Double retrograde labelling experiments with fluorescein and rhodamine labelled latex microspheres injected into the cerebellar cortex and spinal cord showed that the rubrocerebellar cortical neurons are a different population from, although intermixed with, the rubrospinal neurons.