Spinal distribution and collateral projections of rat spinomesencephalic tract cells

The distribution of cells belonging to the rat spinomesencephalic tract was studied by means of the retrograde transport of fluorescent dyes. Bilateral midbrain injections of cytoplasmic and nuclear tracers were made in order to evaluate the location of ipsilateral, contralateral, or bilaterally projecting cells. Spinal neurons with ascending projections to midbrain and descending propriospinal projections were identified by midbrain and spinal injections of different cytoplasmic labels. The locations of spinomesencephalic tract cells included seven regions of the spinal gray matter: marginal zone, lateral neck of the dorsal horn, nucleus proprius, the region around the central canal, the lateral cervical and spinal nuclei and the ventral horn. Cells projecting to the ipsilateral or contralateral midbrain had similar distributions and were frequently found in clusters with overlapping dendritic fields. Approximately 75% of spinomesencephalic cells projected to the contralateral midbrain. The largest contribution to the spinomesencephalic tract cell population was found in cervical cord segments 1-4. Cells with bilateral projections accounted for nearly 2% of all labeled cells, whereas 5% had both ascending and descending projections. Spinomesencephalic cells were found to have varying dendritic fields and morphology, e.g. fusiform, pyramidal, round/oval, and multipolar. The results of the present study lend further support to the view that the spinomesencephalic tract is a multi-component pathway with varied origins and projection targets.