Fluorescent double-labelling study of ascending and descending neurones in the feline lateral cervical nucleus

The organization of ascending and descending neurones of the lateral cervical nucleus (LCN) was investigated in 10 adult cats after injections of the fluorescent tracers Fast Blue and Nuclear Yellow. Injections into the thalamus and tectum resulted in up to 3000 labelled cell profiles within the contralateral LCN. This corresponded to a calculated number of 4500 labelled LCN neurones. The greatest diameter of the labelled cell profiles was about 30 micron. They were located throughout the nucleus, but were less numerous in its medial portion. Injections mainly into the dorsal horn of different pairs of cervical and lumbar segments of the spinal cord resulted in a calculated number of up to 305 labelled LCN cells. The diameter of these cell profiles was about 25 micron and they were mainly situated in the rostro-ventral and medial parts of the LCN. Double-labelled cells with ascending and descending projections were not encountered after injections into the thalamus-tectum and spinal segments C5-6. About 15% of the descending LCN cells were double-labelled by pairs of spinal injections separated by intervals of one segment. It is concluded that the neurones descending down the spinal cord and ascending to the thalamus-tectum constitute different subpopulations of cells within the LCN and that a minor proportion of the descending cells seem to project to at least three adjacent segments of the spinal cord.