Observations on the projection from the perihypoglossal nuclei onto the cerebellum in the macaque monkey

The occurrence and distribution of retrogradely labeled cells in the perihypoglossal nuclei of the monkey were mapped after injections of horseradish peroxidase in various cerebellar cortical regions. In general the findings are in accord with those made in the cat. The flocculus receives a heavy bilateral projection from the nucleus prepositus, particularly from its caudoventral part, and from the nucleus of Roller. There is an apparently scanty projection from the nucleus intercalatus. The uvula receives a rather similar projection, but in the prepositus the cells projecting to the uvula are on the whole situated more dorsally and rostrally than those supplying the flocculus. The projection to lobules VII-VIII is distinct. More scanty projections have been found to the paramedian lobule and the anterior lobe. The different but partially overlapping sites of origin in the prepositus of fibers to the flocculus and uvula indicate the presence of a topical pattern within the perihypoglosso-cerebellar projection, as in the cat (34). In the monkey the two regions of origin appear to coincide with two particular cell collections in the prepositus (12). Both small and middle sized cells project to the cerebellum, as they do in the cat (9, 48). The nucleus supragenualis nervi facialis in the macaque is morphologically different from the corresponding nucleus in most other mammalian species (12), but it contains labeled cells after injections in the flocculus, uvula and other cerebellar regions. A considerable number of cells in the abducent nucleus are labeled after injections in the flocculus and the posterior vermis.