Vestibulotrigeminal pathways in the frog, Rana esculenta

The aim of this study was to investigate whether primary vestibular afferent fibers establish direct connections with the motor and sensory trigeminal system in the brainstem of the frog. The experiments were carried out on Rana esculenta. In anaesthetized animals the trigeminal and vestibular nerves were prepared, and their proximal stumps were labeled either with fluorescein binding dextran amine (trigeminal nerve) or tetramethylrhodamine dextran amine (vestibulocochlear nerve). With a confocal laser scanning microscope we could detect close connections between the vestibular fibers and branches of the dorsal dendritic array of the jaw-closing motoneurons, suggestive of monosynaptic contacts. In the other parts of the brainstem, vestibular terminals were detected in the termination areas of the mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus and of the Gasserian (Vth) ganglion and they were probably involved in polysynaptic connections. In agreement with the results obtained in mammalian species, the present findings suggest that the vestibulotrigeminal relationship is quite complex and uses multiple pathways to connect the vestibular apparatus with the motor and sensory nuclei of the trigeminal nerve in the anurans as well.