Neurons of the periaqueductal gray matter as revealed by Golgi study

Neurons of the periaqueductal gray matter of the normal adult cat are classified into seven general types, Ia, Ib, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc, and IIId, based on the Golgi-Cox impregnated materials. Types Ia and Ib are spindle shaped bipolar neurons with one straight dendritic process forming varicosities and short stemmed spines. Type Ia is small in size and Ib is larger. The axon of each neuron emerges from another pole and projects beyond the PAG region. Occasionally it may share the origin with a dendrite or a tuft of dendrites. Type II, triangular shaped, had an apical dendrite that traverses a long distance within the PAG and an axon emerging from the basal portion and projecting beyond the PAG. Type IIIa, b, c, and d are pleomorphic multipolar neurons. Type IIIa has a rhomboid-shaped soma and dichotomically branching dendrites. Type IIIb has a spheroidal soma and short axons that terminate within the PAG. Type IIIc has a piriform soma and spiny dendrites that ramify perfusely and an axon which terminates within the PAG. Type IIId has the largest soma of all these neurons and the structure resembles an undifferentiated motor neuron of the CNS. Axons of the types IIIa and IIId are projecting in nature. Type Ia is found exclusively in the area immediately surrounding the aqueduct, the nucleus medialis. Types IIIc and IIId are found exclusively in the lateral region of the PAG which corresponds to the nucleus lateralis while the remaining cell types are found mostly in nuclei lateralis and dorsalis.